Reading with the Heroes of Chaos
by Tearful Shadows
Summary: The Heroes of Chaos and some famous Warriors of Chaos are sent on a mission. They must read the Percy Jackson books with the present Olympians and some campers. Set in the time after Percy defeats Gaea.
1. Chapter 1

**A/n. This one is the new Reading with the Heroes of Chaos. The Heroes of Chaos will be reading with the present gods and goddesses plus a few campers. This is set for after the war with Gaea. **

Percy POV

I can't believe that Chaos is sending me on a mission back to Camp Half-Blood! He knows what happened to me there and that I have a lot of bad memories that are centered around there. It's been 100,000 years since I last saw Camp Half-Blood, Camp Jupiter and the people inside them. It was a month after the war had ended and a new Son of Poseidon came to camp and everyone worshipped him.

He has an ego 10 times the size of the gods in their godly form. He thinks that the world revolves around him and that he is better than everyone else. He had killed Medusa on the way to camp and he loved to brag about it. I had done that and so much more and they all just forgot about me. It's not like I wanted a lot of attention but I just wanted everyone to remember me.

The war had cost me a lot. Mom and Paul had died when two _empousai_ and a _dracanae_ went to their house and killed them. Tyson died when Oceanus attacked dad's underwater palace. Dad is a whole other story. He declared that Peter, the other son of Poseidon, was his favorite. As if that wasn't enough, the day after that, I caught Annabeth in a heated kiss with Peter. Instead of proposing like I wanted to, I ended it and packed my stuff.

I had lost everything. I lost my family, my love, my dad, and my friends. The only ones I had left were Nico, Thalia, Reyna, Hazel, Frank, and Grover. That day, as I stood by Peleus guarding the tree that used to be Thalia, I vowed to never set foot in that camp again. And here I am, breaking that vow I made so many millennia ago.

Chaos thinks that it would do the gods some good to have my life read to them. He wants the other Heroes to know about what I went through, even though they were there for some of it. I am the 2nd most powerful being in all the universes (second only to Chaos himself). I have all the powers of the gods and goddesses, Titans, Primordials, and any other you can think of. This is such a waste of my time, but Chaos feels it is important so I must do it.

Ten years after I left, Chaos found me and took me in. I joined his army and quickly rose through his ranks. He adopted me as his son and even gave me half of his powers. I am the only person in the galaxies that can say that Chaos and I have half of the same power (How cool is that!)

The whole time I was away, I trained and developed my new powers. I am Chaos' number one assassin and his most trusted advisor. I have never failed a mission and anyone that I go after, I always get.

"Master Atra, we will be arriving in 10 minutes." One of the soldiers said.

"Thank you, Niveus. I suppose I should prepare." I said.

I put on my black battle armor. Then I put on my black, silver, and gold robe made of Nemean Lion skin. I left it half open at the waist and strapped my weapons to my body. Last I put on my helmet. It was black with a constellation pattern.

"Prepare to land. Heroes to me." I said softly, but everyone heard.

Everyone got into position and we descended from the vortex and landed smoothly in the center of Camp Half-Blood. The side hatch opened with a quiet hiss and I took a deep breath. A few of the Warriors of Chaos, those that were famous in their lifetime, were there as well. They stepped out and went into formation outside of the ship. Chaos wanted them to hear about my twisted life as well.

"Ready Heroes?" I whispered.

They nodded. "Let's go make an impression." I whispered then took a step out.

We all got off our ship and strode passed the gathered warriors. "At ease." I said. The gods and goddesses were all their, standing warily and looking at us with suspicion. I am assuming that they flashed in when our ship landed.

"I am Zeus, King god and god of lightning." He said.

"We know who you are, Zeus. You are quite popular in the stories from where we come from." I said softly.

Zeus was a little taken aback by my casual brush off. "Who are you and why are you here?" he asked in a tired tone.

"I am the son of Chaos and commander his army. These are the Heroes of Chaos of which I am in command and these are a few of the Warriors of Chaos who are close to becoming Heroes of Chaos. Why we are here? Isn't that an interesting question?" I said in a reflective tone of voice.

"My father wishes for you and a select few campers to read books about one of the greatest heroes of this age. I believe that you are familiar with him, yes? The books are about a Percy Jackson." As soon as the words left my mouth, the Olympians all seemed to deflate.

"We are very familiar with him, although we have not seen him for a little over 100,000 years. His girlfriend cheated on him with this other son of Poseidon and everyone ignored him and replaced him with this son of Poseidon. We all have been searching for him but all we can figure out is that he hasn't died and he hasn't taken refuge in the sea." Zeus said sadly.

"All of us but a few anyway. There are some that refuse to look for him and do not regret their actions at all." Hestia said with a hint of anger coating her voice.

"We want him to come back; if he can't stay, we at least want to apologize to him for abandoning him." Apollo said, uncharacteristically serious.

"We never got to thank him for everything that he did for us, especially for my son Luke and everyone else." Hermes said.

I was quiet for a moment, trying to digest what they were telling me. The Olympians felt regret for the way that I was treated? They wanted me back? I was overwhelmed for a moment and I choked back the slight lump in my throat before I said, "I hope that wherever Perseus is that he has found happiness. After all, he certainly deserves it."

The Olympians flinched before Athena asked, "Who are the campers that need to be present for the reading?"

I frowned a bit at the subject change but answered anyway. "Grover Underwood, Thalia Grace, and Nico di Angelo from Camp Half-Blood and Reyna, daughter of Bellona, Hazel Levesque, and Frank Zhang from Camp Jupiter."

"When will we start and where are the books?" Artemis asked.

"I have the books. I will transport my Heroes and Warriors into your throne room tomorrow morning. You can take care of the campers." I said before turning to face my Heroes and Warriors.

"My father has added a cabin here for us to stay in for the duration of this mission. Your conduct reflects back on me and my father so I expect you to be on your best behavior. Warriors, your rooms will be on the first floor. Heroes you are on the second floor and the top floor is mine. Let's move." I called to the assembled Chaos army.

I strode passed the gods and goddesses and toward the black, starry cabin that Chaos had had put here. I heard a voice in my head, _My son, reveal yourself to the Heroes tonight._

_As you wish father_, I thought back before calling over my shoulder, "Heroes you are to meet me in my room now."

I entered my room and gestured for the Heroes to sit while I paced around the room. "I never knew that they missed me that much. I thought they all didn't care." I stated, taking off my helmet and revealing my black, messy hair and currently sea-green eyes. I gave my signature lopsided grin at their looks of shock.

"Percy?" they all asked.

"Of course. Many things happened after the war and within a month, I reached my breaking point. So many things stacked up and I couldn't bear to stay anymore." I said. I told them my story.

Third Person POV

By the end of the story, everyone felt bad for the things that Percy went through just one month after he ended the war.

One of the Heroes took their helmet off and said, "I am so sorry Percy. For everything. I never should have listened to Kronos and I just made things harder for you. I'm sorry that I couldn't be there for you and fight alongside you" He said softly.

"It's alright, Luke. I understand that he told you all the things you wanted to hear. You were upset with your father and he seemed to understand. Believe me; I know better than anyone what you went through as I went through the same thing with my father." Percy said reassuringly.

"I was filled with what if's the first 20 years after I left camp. I wondered if my life would have been different had I had stayed with you on Ogygia, Calypso. I wondered if I should have been more forceful and fought Talos instead of you, Bianca. I wondered if perhaps I should just end it all and spare myself anymore pain." Percy said thoughtfully.

Calypso and Bianca took their helmets off and hugged Percy. "You shouldn't think like that, Percy. I decided to spare you and I never once regretted that. And I never want to hear you even thinking about taking your own life." Bianca reassured softly, a hard note in her voice at the end.

"I planted that garden for you, Calypso." Percy said. He stepped back and waved his hand. Calypso saw in her head the day that Percy planted the Moon flower outside his window. She smiled softly and kissed him on the cheek when the memory ended.

"I never stopped loving you, my little hero. You always held a place in my heart. Remember what I told you, the Fates always send me heroes that can never stay with me, but I cannot help to fall in love with. You can stay with me and I can help you now. You were special, Perseus and I still love you." She whispered in his ear.

"Thanks you guys. This is going to be a rough time with these damn books and I'm going to need all the help I can get. I hold no love for Annabeth anymore, and my brother" he sneered the word like it was a curse word. "will be difficult."

"We will all be here for thee, Percy." Zoe said as she removed her helmet.

"Zoe, I am so sorry about what happened with your dad and your sisters. I went back and visited them you know. I told them about your story and what you did up on the mountain. They made you one of the Hesperides again." Percy said with a smile.

"Percy! Thou did not have to do that!" Zoe said, tears pooling in her eyes.

"It was the least that I could do for you. It was partly my fault that you were killed and I wanted to do something for you, even though you were not there to appreciate it." Percy said, looking down at his feet.

"Thank you. Thou are truly unlike any other boy I have ever met." Zoe exclaimed happily. She threw her arms around him, tears falling freely from her eyes now. Percy rubbed light circles on her back, and then Luke's voice broke the moment.

"Do I get a hug too?" he asked teasingly.

"You're a boy, Luke, she's a Hunter." Percy said.

"Then why do you get a hug?" Luke whined.

"Because I'm special and she likes me better." Percy said sticking his tongue out at his friend. Luke playfully punched him in the arm.

"Ouch." Percy said with a hurt tone in his voice.

"Oh you know that didn't hurt." Luke said exasperatedly.

"It would have had I not gone through the Styx again." Percy complained.

"The point is it didn't hurt so you can't say ouch." Luke said triumphantly.

Percy was about to respond when Calypso put her arms around him and whispered in his ear, "Don't you think that we should get some sleep? It's going to be a long day tomorrow."

Percy shivered slightly before saying, "Calypso is right. Tomorrow is going to be very trying and we will need all of our strength to face it. Let's go to bed. Goodnight everyone." Percy said, kicking them all out of his room for the night so he could lie down and get some sleep.

**A/n. There it is! I hope you liked it. If you haven't guessed, the Heroes of Chaos are Perseus Jackson, Luke Castellan, Bianca di Angelo, Calypso, and Zoe Nightshade. Can anyone guess who the famous Warriors are?**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/n. Hey! I promise that I did not die. I've just been really busy with a research paper and semester finals at school but I am on Christmas break now so I should be able to update more often. I hope everyone has a Happy Christmas!**

**Disclaimer: Do I look like I'm Rick Riordan? Nope. I am not, will not, and have never been Rick Riordan, therefore I own nothing of this story except for the plot and possibly some OCs. Everything that sounds like it came from the book or another fanfiction author is not mine.**

The next morning, the Heroes and Warriors of Chaos were all up bright and early to do their morning training before heading to Olympus.

"Okay everyone. Grab onto me and I will flash you to the throne room." Percy said. Everyone grabbed ahold of him and they were teleported to Olympus.

"Morning. I trust you slept well?" Hestia asked.

"We did thank you for asking." Percy said, looking at the gathered Olympians and campers. "I notice that there are still a few people that need to be here missing. Can you bring Hades, Persephone, Amphitrite, and Triton here?"

"Of course." Poseidon said, flashing out to go and retrieve the mentioned people. He flashed back and the situation was quickly explained to the campers and newcomers.

"What can we call you while we are reading these books? Unless you wish to reveal yourself now?" Zeus asked.

"I think not. I am Atra. These are Niveus, Nightmare, Deathmaster, and Black Dahlia." Percy said, indicating the cloaked figures around him. "The Warriors can reveal themselves now since you all know them."

"I am Theseus, son of Poseidon and defeater of the Minotaur." one of the cloaked figures stepped forward, revealing a man with long, messy black hair and warm hazel eyes.

"I am Perseus, son of Zeus and slayer of Medusa." Another cloaked figure said, removing their hood to reveal a man with icy blue eyes and red hair that reached his shoulders.

"My name is Andromeda and I am the wife of Perseus." A girl with long curly brown hair and sparkling grey eyes said, removing her hood and linking hands with Perseus.

"I am Orion, son of Poseidon and hunter of beasts." A man with light brown hair and dark sea green eyes said, removing his hood.

"My name is Achilles, son of Thetis and slayer of Hector." A man with dirty blonde hair that reached his shoulders and black eyes said.

"Jason here! I am the Retriever of the Golden Fleece and Leader of the Argonauts." A man with short black hair and glimmering chocolate eyes said.

The Olympians were shocked. Here were some of the greatest heroes in history, who were all dead, standing in front of them!

"Wow! You guys look like you've seen a ghost." Theseus joked with a laugh.

"Well we kind of have. You all were dead yet here you are." Poseidon said with a shell-shocked look still plastered on his face. These were some of his favorite sons, now if only he had his other favorite son here too.

"I guess it's time to get started on these books. We should probably start with the note first." Atra/Percy said, picking up the note and reading it out loud.

_Dear Olympians, Heroes, Warriors, and campers:_

_I feel that you need to be reminded of what Percy Jackson went through and everything that he did for you. It's been a long time since you've last seen him and many of you have probably forgotten most of this young hero's story. All eight of these books must be read. Atra, my son, you and the other Heroes must reveal yourself sometime during the course of this book. Have fun reading!_

_Sincerely yours,_

_Chaos_

"Damn it, father!" Atra swore. He opened the parcel and swore again. "The books are _Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief, the Sea of Monsters, the Titan's Curse, the Battle of the Labyrinth, _and _the Last Olympian_. Then there is _The Lost Hero_, _The Son of Neptune_, and _The Mark of Athena_."

"Before we start, the campers should probably introduce themselves." Atra said. **(A/n. I will be referring to the Heroes by their code name until they reveal themselves.)**

"I am Thalia Grace, daughter of Zeus."

"Nico di Angelo, son of Hades."

"Grover Underwood, satyr."

"Reyna, daughter of Bellona."

"Hazel Levesque, daughter of Pluto."

"Frank Zhang, son of Mars."

"Alright, we can start the book now. Since I have them, I will read the first chapter." Atra said, opening the book.

He opened the book and said, "The first chapter is **I Accidentally Vaporize My Pre-Algebra Teacher.**"

**Look, I didn't want to be a half-blood.**

**If you're reading this because you think you might be one, my advice is:**

"Percy's giving advice? What has the world gone to?" Nico asked a little sadly.

"Sometimes his advice was good though." Thalia said with a small sad smile on her face.

"Yeah but only in life or death situations. Otherwise, he could say some pretty stupid things." Grover said, a few tears running down his face.

**Close this book right now. Believe whatever lie your mom and dad told you about your birth, and try to lead a normal life.**

"That's not very good advice, Percy. If they think they are a demi-god then the monsters will still know." Thalia said to the book.

"Does that mean we can close the book, too?" Apollo and Hermes asked hopefully.

Artemis whacked them on the back of the head and they pouted.

**Being a half-blood is dangerous.**

"Check." Thalia, Reyna, Hazel, Frank, and Nico said.

**It's scary.**

"Check." They said again cheerfully.

**Most of the time, it gets you killed in painful, nasty ways.**

"Check." They said solemnly.

The Olympians exchanged looks. They did not know most of the demigods' stories since they were usually busy and couldn't watch them 24/7.

**If you're a normal kid, reading this because you think it's fiction, great. Read on. I envy you for being able to believe that none of this ever happened.**

**But if you recognize yourself in these pages – if you feel something stirring inside – stop reading immediately.**

"Can we stop reading?" Apollo and Hermes asked hopefully.

Artemis whacked them on the head again and they sighed sadly.

"Damn sis, you don't have to hit so hard." Apollo whined.

Artemis scowled and smacked him again. "Do not call me sis." She said irritably.

**You might be one of us. And once you know that, it's only a matter of time before they sense it too, and they'll come for you.**

"That's ominous." Hermes commented.

**Don't say I didn't warn you.**

"You didn't warn me." Apollo said cheerfully.

"He didn't warn us either." The Warriors stated.

**My name is Percy Jackson.**

"Well duh." Dionysus said bored.

**I'm twelve years old. Until a few months ago, I was a boarding student at Yancy Academy, a private school for troubled kids in upstate New York.**

**Am I a troubled kid?**

"Most definitely." The Heroes and campers chorused.

"You guys are so hard on him." Theseus commented.

"Percy could take it though. He was strong. There wasn't a lot that our Percy couldn't handle. He faced down gods and Titans without batting an eye. And besides, we are family and families are supposed to rag on each other." Thalia explained.

**Yeah. You could say that.**

"See? He agrees." Nico exclaimed.

Theseus rolled his eyes.

**I could start at any point in my short miserable life to prove it, but really started getting bad last May, when our sixth-grade class took a field trip to Manhattan – twenty-eight mental-case kids and two teachers on a yellow school bus, heading to the Metropolitan Museum of Art to look at ancient Greek and Roman stuff.**

"It sounds like torture." Hermes, Apollo, Ares, Poseidon, Orion, Theseus, and Jason moaned.

Athena scowled and rolled her eyes.

Atra grinned as he read the next line.

**I know – it sounds like torture.**

Now Ares, Hermes, Apollo, Poseidon, Orion, Theseus, and Jason were grinning as well.

**Most Yancy field trips were.**

**But Mr. Brunner, our Latin teacher, was leading the trip, so I had hopes.**

"That name sounds familiar." Zeus muttered.

Dionysus knew who it was but wasn't going to say. The others can figure it out on their own.

**Mr. Brunner was this middle-aged guy in a motorized wheelchair. He had thinning hair and a scruffy beard, and a frayed tweed jacket, which always smelled like coffee.**

"That sounds like Chiron." Zeus exclaimed.

**You wouldn't think he'd be cool, but he told stories and jokes and let us play games in class.**

"Chiron sounds like a fun teacher." Apollo said.

"He was." Grover confirmed.

"Wish I could have had him." Perseus muttered.

**He also had this awesome collection of Roman armor and weapons, so he was the only teacher whose class didn't put me to sleep.**

"Awwww, does Percy like Chiron?" Nico cooed.

Thalia rolled her eyes.

"You're talking to a book, Death Breath." She said in exasperation.

"You've been doing it too, Pine Face." Nico retorted.

**I hoped the trip would be okay. At least, I hoped that for once I wouldn't get in trouble.**

The heroes and campers snorted.

**Boy, was I wrong.**

**See, bad things happen to me on field trips. Like at my fifth-grade school, when we went to the Saratoga battlefield, I had this accident with a Revolutionary War cannon. I wasn't aiming for the school bus, but of course I got expelled anyway.**

Everyone laughed.

"What was he aiming for?" Hephaestus asked.

"Knowing Percy, probably a bully or something." Hazel said with a soft smile. Percy had become her brother and she missed him deeply.

**And before that, at my fourth-grade school, when we took a behind-the-scenes tour of the Marine World shark pool, I sort of hit the wrong lever on the catwalk and our class took an unplanned swim.**

Hermes and Apollo roared with laughter.

Poseidon smiled, surprised that his son was showing his powers that early.

"That's really early to be showing your powers. He must have been really powerful." Achilles said with a raised eyebrow.

"He was. Percy was the most powerful demigod I have ever seen and he was so humble about it too." Reyna said with a smile.

**And the time before that… Well, you get the idea.**

**This trip, I was determined to be good.**

The Heroes snorted.

"I don't think it's possible for him not to get into trouble." Niveus/Luke said with a laugh.

"You guys sound like you knew Percy." Frank said, getting slightly suspicious.

"Um…well…" Death Master/Bianca stuttered.

"Gee thanks guys. I didn't want to do this so early. Oh well, nothing to it now." Atra spoke, lowering his hood and gaining gasps from everyone but the Heroes. The man had spiked black hair that fell in his face to completely cover his right eye. His eyes were currently an ethereal sea green, more brilliant than Orion's.

Everyone was stunned until the other two sons of Poseidon got up and stood in front of the slightly taller Percy. "I've got to admit, you look a lot more like dad than any other son of Poseidon I've met." Theseus said with Orion nodding in agreement.

"PERCY!" Thalia yelled, tackling her cousin to the ground. "I knew that you were still alive! I'm so glad to see you!" she exclaimed happily, locking her arms around the amused man and hugging him tightly.

"It's good to see you too Thals." Percy said happily.

"Think I could have a turn with my dear cousin?" Nico asked.

Thalia got up off of Percy and as soon as Percy was on his feet, he was enthusiastically tackled by his other cousin. This time, though, he managed to keep his balance.

"Zombie Boy." He said in mock solemnity.

"Kelp Head." Nico responded equally as solemn before they both started laughing and hugging each other tightly.

"Perrrrcy!" Grover bleated.

"G-man! How's it going?" Percy asked, disentangling himself from Nico and doing a complicated handshake with Grover.

"Really well actually. Being the Lord of the Wild isn't easy but I've managed." Grover said, a truly happy grin lighting his face for the first time since Percy left.

"Percy." A voice whispered dangerously.

"Reyna." Percy said a bit nervously. "I haven't seen you in so long. You haven't changed at all."

She launched herself at him and slugged him in the face before clinging tightly to him and letting a few tears slip out. "DON"T YOU EVER DO THAT TO ME AGAIN, PERSEUS JACKSON!" she yelled.

"Yes Reyna." Percy said meekly, causing someone behind her to snort.

"Never known you to be the obedient type, Perce." Frank commented.

"Frank, my man." Percy greeted before doing a different but equally complicated handshake with him. "And there's Hazel!" Percy said before picking her up and spinning her around in a circle.

She giggled happily and hugged him. "I've missed you Percy." She whispered happily.

"Percy?" Poseidon whispered desperately. He couldn't believe that his favorite son was sitting here with them.

Instantly, Percy stiffened and let go of Hazel. His eyes turned hard and cold; they were no longer sea green, but an angry red.

"What do you want, Lord Poseidon?" he asked icily.

Poseidon flinched before whispering, "Percy…please…I'm sorry."

Percy scoffed. "Save it." He spat before turning to the other completely shocked Olympians. "Hello Uncle Hades, Uncle Zeus, Aunt Hestia, Aunt Persephone, Mother, Brother, Lords and Ladies."

Triton and Amphitrite got up from their chairs and hugged Percy fiercely. "I told Triton that you would be fine. I knew you were strong, my son." Amphitrite said with a warm smile spread on her face.

Triton blushed. "I was worried for my brother." He mumbled.

"So I know that everyone has questions so I will answer some of them when we take a break. We really need to get back to reading." Percy said. He walked back over to the Heroes and Warriors and sat in between them. One of the cloaked figures slung their arm around Percy, offering comfort as he started to read.

**All the way into the city, I put up with Nancy Bobofit, the freckly, redheaded kleptomaniac girl, hitting my best friend Grover in the back of the head with chunks of peanut butter-and-ketchup sandwich.**

"That's disgusting! Who eats that?" several people exclaimed.

"She does." Percy said nonchalantly.

**Grover was an easy target. He was scrawny. He cried when he got frustrated. He must've been held back several grades, because he was the only sixth grader with acne and the start of a wispy beard on his chin. On top of all that, he was crippled. He had a note excusing him from PE for the rest of his life because he had some kind of muscular disease in his legs. He walked funny, like every step hurt him,**

"Thanks Perce, that was so flattering." Grover said sarcastically.

"Anytime G-man."

**But don't let that fool you. **

**You should have seen him run when it was enchilada day in the cafeteria.**

"Way to blow your cover, G-man." Percy said while laughing.

"Enchiladas are good." He said defensively.

**Anyway, Nancy Bobofit was throwing wads of sandwich that stuck in his curly brown hair, and she knew I couldn't do anything back to her because I was already on probation.**

"Oooh, Percy, what did you do?" Hermes and Apollo asked.

"I got rather annoyed at this guy that was picking on Grover so when he ambushed us in the recess area, I got really mad and the ground started shaking and he fell over. I got blamed because when he fell, he flew about 50 feet away from us." Percy explained.

Apollo and Hermes' faces lit up. "Sweet!" they exclaimed.

Orion and Theseus looked at their brother in shock. They had never heard of a son of Poseidon having control over earthquakes.

**The headmaster had threatened me with death**

Poseidon tensed.

**By in-school suspension**

Poseidon relaxed.

**If anything bad, embarrassing, or even mildly entertaining happened on this trip.**

"Awww, but that's taking all the fun out of life." Apollo whined.

"Unfortunately, my headmaster didn't get that." Percy sighed dramatically.

"Yeah but your fun tends to get dangerous." Frank pointed out.

Percy thought for a moment. "I see your point."

"**I'm going to kill her," I mumbled.**

"Do it!" Ares cheered, leaning forward. Finally there was going to be some action in this boring chapter.

**Grover tried to calm me down. "It's okay. I like peanut butter."**

"So not the point G-man."

**He dodged another piece of Nancy's lunch.**

"**That's it." I started to get up, but Grover pulled me back to my seat.**

"**You're already on probation," he reminded me. "You know who'll get blamed if anything happens."**

"At least someone's looking out for him." Thalia sighed.

"Well, someone has to because he never does." Grover said, sighing as well.

**Looking back on it, I wish I'd decked Nancy Bobofit right then and there.**

"That doesn't sound good. Talk about ominous."

**In-school suspension would have been nothing compared to the mess I was about to get myself into.**

**Mr. Brunner led the museum tour.**

"And so the torture starts." Apollo said dramatically.

"It's not torture. Maybe if you actually listened every once in a while then you would fill that empty head of yours." Athena said.

"Burn!" Hermes, Percy, Achilles, Perseus, and Jason exclaimed before looking at each other and bursting out laughing.

**He rode up front in his wheelchair, guiding us through the big, echoey galleries, past marble statues and glass cases full of really old black-and-orange pottery.**

**It blew my mind that this stuff had survived for two thousand, three thousand years.**

"Longer than that." Athena said.

**He gathered us around a thirteen-foot tall stone column with a big sphinx on the top, and started telling us how it was a grave marker, a stele, for a girl about our age. He told us about the carvings on the sides. I was trying to listen to what he had to say, because it was kind of interesting, but everybody around me was talking, and every time I told them to shut up, the other teacher chaperone, Mrs. Dodds, would give me the evil eye.**

"That Mrs. Dodds makes me nervous." Thalia admitted.

Nico was thinking the same thing as his cousin.

**Mrs. Dodds was this little math teacher from Georgia who always wore a black leather jacket, **

"Sweet!" Ares exclaimed.

**Even though she was fifty years old. **

"I take that back. That is so not sweet!" he said, looking sick.

"Old ladies are not allowed to wear leather!" Aphrodite exclaimed, looking a bit sick herself.

**She looked mean enough to ride a Harley right into your locker. She had come to Yancy halfway through the year, when our last math teacher had a nervous breakdown.**

Thalia looked at Percy.

"I had nothing to do with it." He said, putting his hands up in the international sign for 'I surrender'.

She looked like she didn't believe him.

"Why do I find myself unable to believe you?" Reyna said with a sigh.

**From her first day, Mrs. Dodds loved Nancy Bobofit and figured I was devil spawn.**

"Wrong kid." Percy said, shrugging.

"Yeah that would be Nico over here." Thalia said, pointing over her shoulder.

"And Hazel too." Frank said with a teasing grin.

"HEY!" Hazel, Nico and Hades exclaimed.

"My apologies Uncle Hades." Percy said in between bouts of laughter.

**She would point her crooked finger at me and say, "Now honey," real sweet, and I knew I was going to get after-school detention for a month.**

**One time, after she'd made me erase answers out of old math workbooks until midnight, I told Grover I didn't think Mrs. Dodds was human. He looked at me, real serious, and said, "You're absolutely right."**

"Way to keep your cover, Grover."

**Mr. Brunner kept talking about Greek funeral art.**

**Finally, Nancy Bobofit snickered something about the naked guy on the stele, and I turned around and said, "Will you shut up?"**

"Yeah, go Master!" the Heroes exclaimed.

**It came out louder than I meant it to.**

"Of course it did." Nico said, rolling his eyes.

"Maybe if you ate more cereal then you wouldn't have had that problem." Demeter said.

"SHUT UP! Nobody wants to hear about cereal!" Hades exclaimed.

"Actually, Lady Demeter, may I please have some cereal?" Percy asked nicely.

Demeter looked surprised before smiling softly and snapping her fingers. A bowl of Wheaties appeared in front of Percy and he smiled happily and began eating it.

"Thanks!"

**The whole group laughed. Mr. Brunner stopped his story.**

"**Mr. Jackson," he said. "did you have a comment?"**

**My face was totally red. I said, "No, sir."**

**Mr. Brunner pointed to one of the pictures on the stele. "Perhaps you'll tell us what this picture represents?"**

**I looked at the carving, and felt a flush of relief, because I actually recognized it. "That's Kronos eating his kids, right?"**

The Olympians groaned.

"It would be that one!"

"**Yes," Mr. Brunner said, obviously not satisfied. "And he did this because…?"**

"**Well…" I racked my brain to remember. "Kronos was the king god, and -"**

"GOD?" Zeus thundered.

"I didn't know any of this existed at that point in time. Chiron corrects me." Percy explained.

This seemed to calm Zeus down a bit.

"**God?" Mr. Brunner asked.**

"**Titan," I corrected myself. "And… he didn't trust his kids, who were the gods. So, um, Kronos ate them, right? But his wife his baby Zeus, and gave Kronos a rock to eat instead. And later, when Zeus grew up, he tricked his dad, Kronos, into barfing up his brothers and sisters -"**

"**Eeew!" said one of the girls behind me.**

"You didn't have to grow up in your father's stomach." Aphrodite said, grimacing in disgust.

"**-and so there was this big fight between the gods and the Titans," I continued. "and the gods won."**

"Way to sum up a huge war into a few sentences."

**Some snickers from the group.**

"Why are they laughing when you got it right?" Athena asked.

Percy sighed. They didn't need to know that he as bullied as a child. He hadn't told anyone and that was the way that it was going to stay. He also hadn't told anyone about his old stepfather and the things that he did to him.

**Behind me, Nancy Bobofit mumbled to a friend, "Like we're going to use this in real life. Like it's going to say on our job applications, 'Please explain why Kronos ate his kids.'"**

"**And why, Mr. Jackson," Brunner said. "to paraphrase Miss Bobofit's excellent question, does this matter in real life"**

"Busted." Many people said.

"**Busted," Grover muttered.**

Everyone chuckled.

"**Shut up," Nancy hissed, her face even brighter red than her hair.**

"That's attractive." Aphrodite said, crinkling her nose in disgust.

**At least Nancy got packed, too. Mr. Brunner was the only one who ever caught her saying anything wrong. He had radar ears.**

"Or horse ears." Andromeda said.

Percy rolled his eyes and continued reading.

**I thought about his question and shrugged. "I don't know, sir."**

"**I see." Mr. Brunner looked disappointed. "Well, half credit, Mr. Jackson. Zeus did indeed feed Kronos a mixture of mustard and wine, which made him disgorge his other five children, who, of course, being immortal gods, had been living and growing up completely undigested in the Titan's stomach. The gods defeated their father, sliced him to pieces with his own scythe, and scattered his remains in Tartarus, the darkest part of the Underworld. On that happy note, it's time for lunch. Mrs. Dodds, would you lead us back outside?"**

Everyone laughed. That was so like Chiron.

**The class drifted off, the girls holding their stomachs, the guys pushing each other around and acting like doofuses.**

"When aren't they?" Artemis muttered.

"Oh I can think of a few exceptions." Percy whispered darkly before returning to the book.

**Grover and I were about to follow when Mr. Brunner said, "Mr. Jackson."**

**I knew that was coming.**

**I told Grover to keep going. Then I turned toward Mr. Brunner. Sir?"**

**Mr. Brunner had this look that wouldn't let you go – intense brown eyes that could've been a thousand years old and had seen everything.**

"Chiron is older than that."

"**You must learn the answer to my question," Mr. Brunner told me.**

"**About the Titans?"**

"**About real life. How your studies apply to it."**

"**Oh."**

"**What you learn from me," he said, "is vitally important. I expect you to treat it as such. I will accept only the best from you, Percy Jackson."**

**I wanted to get angry, this guy pushed me so hard.**

"He is supposed to as he is your teacher." Athena said.

**I mean, sure, it was kind of cool on tournament days, when he dressed up in a suit of Roman armor and shouted: "What ho!" and challenged us, sword-point against chalk, to run to the board and name every Greek and Roman person who had ever lived, and their mother, and what god they worshipped.**

"That does sound cool." Apollo said reluctantly.

**But Mr. Brunner expected me to be as good as everybody else, despite the fact that I have dyslexia and attention deficit disorder and I had never made above a C- in my life. No – he didn't expect me to be as good; he expected me to be better. And I just couldn't learn all those names and facts, much less spell them correctly.**

**I mumbled something about trying harder, while Mr. Brunner took one long, sad look at the stele, like he'd been at this girl's funeral.**

"He probably had been." Hera said.

**He told me to go outside and eat my lunch.**

**The class gathered on the front steps of the museum, where we could watch the foot traffic along Fifth Avenue.**

**Overhead, a huge storm was brewing, with clouds blacker than I'd ever seen over the city.**

The Olympians looked at Zeus.

**I figured maybe it was global warming or something,**

Niveus snorted. "Only you." He said fondly, shaking his head and tightening the arm he still had around Percy slightly in a hug.

**Because the weather all across New York state had been weird since Christmas. We'd had massive snow storms, flooding, wildfires from lightning strikes.**

"You both were acting so childish." Artemis sighed.

The two Olympians in question suddenly found a deep interest in their thrones.

"What exactly is going on? Is there a reason that dad and Uncle Poseidon are fighting?" Perseus asked.

"You'll see." Percy said before continuing.

**I wouldn't be surprised if there was a hurricane blowing in.**

**Nobody else seemed to notice. Some of the guys were pelting pigeons with Lunchables crackers.**

Demeter, Artemis, and Persephone scowled.

**Nancy Bobofit was trying to pickpocket something from a lady's purse,**

Hermes smiled.

**And, of course, Mrs. Dodds wasn't seeing a thing.**

**Grover and I sat on the edge of the fountain, away from the others. We thought that maybe if we did that, everybody wouldn't know we were from that school – the school for loser freaks who couldn't make it elsewhere.**

"Did it work?" Apollo asked.

"No." Percy and Grover sighed.

"**Detention?" Grover asked.**

"**Nah," I said. "Not from Brunner. I just wish he'd lay off me sometimes. I mean – I'm not a genius."**

"Truer words have never been spoken." Nico said.

He got blasted in the face with some water from the Dead Sea **(Ironic, no?)**.

**Grover didn't say anything for a while. Then, when I thought he was going to give me some deep philosophical comment to make me feel better, he said, "Can I have your apple?"**

Everyone laughed.

"Sorry." Grover said sheepishly.

"Don't' worry about it, G-man." Percy said.

**I didn't have much of an appetite, so I let him take it.**

**I watched the stream of cabs going down Fifth Avenue, and thought about my mom's apartment, only a little ways uptown from where we sat. I hadn't seen her since Christmas. I wanted so bad to jump in a taxi and head home. She'd hug me and be glad to see me, but she'd be disappointed, too. **

"If she loved you, she would send you right back." Athena said.

**She'd send me right back to Yancy, remind me that I had to try harder, even if this was my sixth school in six years and I was probably going to be kicked out again. I wouldn't be able to stand the sad look she'd give me.**

"Awwww!" Demeter, Aphrodite, and Hera cooed.

**Mr. Brunner parked his wheelchair at the base of the handicapped ramp. He ate celery while he read a paperback novel. A red umbrella stuck up from the back of his chair, making it look like a motorized café table.**

Hephaestus' eyes brightened. Maybe he would try to build one of those. Plans and schematics started flying through his mind quickly as he jotted some things down on a piece of paper he pulled from his pocket.

**I was about to unwrap my sandwich when Nancy Bobofit appeared in front of me with her ugly friends – I guess she'd gotten tired of stealing from the tourists – and dumped her half-eaten lunch I Grover's lap.**

"**Oops." She grinned at me with her crooked teeth. Her freckles were orange, as if somebody had spray-painted her face with liquid Cheetos.**

"That's attractive." Aphrodite said sarcastically.

**I tried to stay cool. The school counselor had told me a million times, "Count to ten, get control of your temper." But I was so mad my mind went blank. A wave roared in my ears.**

"A wave?" Zeus asked suspiciously. How was Percy able to access his powers so early?

**I don't remember touching her, but the next thing I knew, Nancy was sitting on her butt in the fountain, screaming, "Percy pushed me!"**

"Jeez Percy! You didn't have to push the girl!" Apollo mock scolded.

"Of course I didn't, Lord Apollo." Percy said sarcastically.

**Mrs. Dodd's materialized next to us.**

**Some of the kids were whispering: "Did you see -"**

"**- the water - "**

" – **like it grabbed her - "**

"That's pretty impressive for not knowing that you were a demigod." Athena said.

Percy smiled. That was one of the nicest things that Athena had ever said to him.

**I didn't know what they were talking about. All I knew was that I was in trouble again.**

"I'm always in trouble." Percy sighed.

"That you are." The Heroes and campers said, sighing as well.

**As soon as Mrs. Dodds was sure poor little Nancy was okay, promising to get her a new shirt at the museum gift shop, etc., etc., Mrs. Dodds turned on me. **

"Of course she did." Percy sighed.

**There was a triumphant fire in her eyes, as if I'd done something she'd been waiting for all semester. **

"She probably had." Grover said.

"**Now, honey -"**

"**I know," I grumbled. "A month erasing workbooks."**

"No! Don't say that! You never guess your punishment." Hermes and Apollo exclaimed.

**That wasn't the right thing to say.**

"Of course not!" they said.

"**Come with me," Mrs. Dodds said.**

"**Wait!" Grover yelped. "It was me. I pushed her."**

**I stared at him, stunned. I couldn't believe he was trying to cover for me. Mrs. Dodds scared Grover to death.**

"That was brave of you, G-man." Percy said.

Grover blushed and smiled.

**She glared at him so hard his whiskery chin trembled.**

"**I don't think so, Mr. Underwood," she said.**

"**But -"**

"**You-will-stay-here." She said.**

**Grover looked at me desperately.**

"**It's okay, man," I told him. "Thanks for trying."**

"**Honey," Mrs. Dodds barked at me. "Now."**

That honey stuff is starting to get annoying." Black Dahlia/Calypso grumbled under her breath.

**Nancy Bobofit smirked.**

"Stupid girl." Ares muttered.

**I gave her my deluxe I'll-kill-you-later stare.**

"Oh I'm sure that was real scary, Percy." Thalia said sarcastically.

"Have you ever seen his stare?" Niveus asked.

"No." Nico said a little nervously because the Heroes were looking warily at Percy. "Lay it on me and we'll see how scary you are." Nico said.

Percy's eyes changed to violet and he unleashed his stare upon Nico. Nico looked into his eyes and flinched back from him. In Percy's violet eyes, mini-vortexes were swirling.

"Okay, perhaps you are a little scary." Nico whimpered.

Percy smiled and changed his eyes back to his normal sea-green. The Heroes were laughing at Nico as he tried to pull himself together.

**Then I turned to face Mrs. Dodds, but she wasn't there. She was standing at the museum entrance, way at the top of the steps, gesturing impatiently at me to come on.**

**How'd she get there so fast?**

Theseus and Orion began to get a bad feeling. Even though they hadn't known that their Master was their brother, they still really liked him and didn't want to see him get hurt.

**I have moments like that a lot, when my brain falls asleep or something, and the next thing I know I've missed something, as if a puzzle piece fell out of the universe and left me staring at the blank place behind it. The school counselor told me this was part of the ADHD, my brain misinterpreting things.**

**I wasn't so sure.**

"You should trust your instincts, Master. They are usually right." Achilles said with a smile.

**I went after Mrs. Dodds.**

"I really wish that you didn't." Grover said.

**Halfway up the steps, I glanced back at Grover. He was looking pale, cutting his eyes between me and Mr. Brunner, like he wanted Mr. Brunner to notice what was going on, but Mr. Brunner was absorbed in his novel.**

**I looked back up. Mrs. Dodds had disappeared again. She was now inside the building, at the end of the entrance hall.**

**Okay, I thought. She's going to make me buy a new shirt for Nancy at the gift shop.**

"Don't be so sure." Athena warned.

**But apparently that wasn't the plan.**

**I followed her deeper into the museum. When I finally caught up to her, we were back in the Greek and Roman section.**

**Except for us, the gallery was empty.**

"Oh no!" Jason said, knuckles white from clenching his hands so tightly.

**Mrs. Dodds stood with her arms crossed in front of a big marble frieze of the Greek gods. She was making this weird noise in her throat, like growling.**

**Even without the noise, I would've been nervous. It's weird being alone with a teacher, especially Mrs. Dodds. Something about the way she looked at the frieze, as if she wanted to pulverize it…**

"She probably did." Nico said. It sounded like Alecto and he was worried because she was the hardest of the Furies to beat.

"**You've been giving us problems, honey," she said.**

**I did the safe thing. I said, "Yes, ma'am."**

"You? Doing the safe thing? Were you feeling alright that day, Master?" Niveus/Luke asked.

"Ha ha very funny. Can be obedient when I want to." Percy said, sticking his tongue out at Niveus.

**She tugged on the cuffs of her leather jacket. "Did you really think you would get away with it?" **

**The look in her eyes was beyond mad. It was evil.**

**She's a teacher, I thought nervously. It's not like she's going to hurt me.**

"Think again. If that's who I think it is, then she would not hesitate to hurt you." Nico said. Hazel looked at him and Nico mouthed _"Alecto."_ At her.

Her face drained of color and she grabbed Frank's hand and held it tightly.

**I said, "I'll – I'll try harder, ma'am."**

**Thunder shook the building.**

Everyone looked at Zeus.

"**We are not fools, Percy Jackson," Mrs. Dodds said. "it was only a matter of time before we found you out. Confess, and you will suffer less pain."**

Jason gulped and his knuckles turned whiter.

**I didn't know what she was talking about.**

"Common occurrence." Percy grumbled.

**All I could think of was that the teachers must've found the illegal stash of candy I'd been selling out of my dorm room.**

Hermes and Apollo smiled and high fived a laughing Percy. Achilles smiled. Percy reminded him so much of himself sometimes.

**Or maybe they'd realized I got my essay on Tom Sawyer from the Internet without ever reading the book and now they were going to take away my grade. Or worse, they were going to make me read the book.**

Hermes and Apollo high fived Percy again while Athena scowled.

"**Well?" she demanded.**

"**Ma'am, I don't…" **

"**Your time is up," she hissed.**

**Then the weirdest thing happened.**

**Her eyes began to glow like barbeque coals. Her fingers stretched, turning into talons. Her jacket melted into large, leathery wings. She wasn't human. She was a shriveled hag with bat wings and claws and a mouth full of yellow fangs, and she was about to slice me to ribbons.**

It was deathly quiet until… "YOU SENT A FURY AFTER MY BROTHER! HADES, YOU SON OF A BITCH! I'M GOING TO KILL YOU!" Triton exploded.

He went to get up off his chair when he found that he could not move. Thin bands of water were chaining him to his throne.

"PERCY! RELEASE ME THIS INSTANT!" he thundered.

"How about I don't?" Percy said. "You need to calm down. It's in the past and I survived. Besides, I rather like Uncle Hades and I don't want him to be disintegrated into dust." He said.

"Thank you, nephew." Hades said, coming out from behind Hermes' chair.

"Don't mention it." Percy said casually.

**Then things got even stranger.**

**Mr. Brunner, who'd been out in front of the museum a minute before, wheeled his chair into the doorway of the gallery, holding a pen in his hand.**

"**What ho, Percy!" he shouted, and tossed the pen through the air.**

**Mrs. Dodds lunged at me.**

Triton and Amphitrite held their breath.

**With a yelp, I dodged and felt talons slash the air next to my ear. I snatched the ballpoint pen out of the air, but when it hit my hand, it wasn't a pen anymore. It was a sword – Mr. Brunner's bronze sword, which he always used on tournament days.**

Amphitrite breathed a slight sigh of relief. Percy had Anaklusmos now; he would be fine.

**Mrs. Dodds spun toward me with a murderous look in her eyes.**

**My knees were jelly. My hands were shaking so bad I almost dropped the sword.**

"Wimp." Muttered Ares.

He got blasted in the face with some sea water courtesy of Percy.

**She snarled, "Die, honey!"**

"NO!" Poseidon screamed.

**And she flew straight at me.**

**Absolute terror ran through my body. I did the only thing that came naturally: I swung the sword.**

"So you had had no training, yet swinging the sword came naturally to you?" Thalia asked.

"Yup." Percy said.

The Warriors stared at him incredulously. Even they had to have training before they could fight.

**The metal blade hit her shoulder and passed clean through her body as if she were made of water. Hisss!**

Nico was impressed. Percy had no training and he took Alecto down on his first try.

**Mrs. Dodds was a sand castle in a power fan.**

Niveus chuckled. "I love your descriptions, Master."

**She exploded into yellow powder, vaporized on the spot, leaving nothing but the smell of sulfur and a dying screech and a chill of evil in the air, as if those two glowing red eyes were still watching me.**

Everyone shivered.

"That's creepy."

**I was alone.**

**There was a ballpoint pen in my hand.**

**Mr. Brunner wasn't there. Nobody was there but me.**

**My hands were still trembling. My lunch must have been contaminated with magic mushrooms or something.**

"Magic mushrooms, really Master?" Nightmare asked exasperatedly.

**Had I imagined the whole thing?**

"Nope." Nico said cheerfully.

**I went back outside.**

**It had started to rain.**

**Grover was sitting by the fountain, a museum map tented over his head. Nancy Bobofit was still standing there, soaked from her swim in the fountain, grumbling to her ugly friends. When she saw me, she said, "I hope Mrs. Kerr whipped your butt."**

"Who?" Perseus asked.

**I said, "Who?"**

Everyone chuckled and Perseus and Percy smiled at each other.

"**Our teacher. Duh!"**

**I blinked. We had no teacher named Mrs. Kerr. I asked Nancy what she was talking about.**

**She just rolled her eyes and turned away.**

**I asked Grover where Mrs. Dodds was.**

**He said, "Who?"**

**But he paused first, and he wouldn't look at me, so I thought he was messing with me.**

"Oh, you got to love the mist." Apollo sighed happily.

"**Not funny, man," I told him. "This is serious."**

**Thunder boomed overhead.**

Everyone looked at Zeus again.

"Apparently he thinks so too." Niveus said.

**I saw Mr. Brunner sitting under his red umbrella, reading his book, as if he'd never moved.**

**I went over to him.**

**He looked up, a little distracted. "Ah, that would be my pen. Please bring your own writing utensil in the future, Mr. Jackson."**

"Now Chiron can lie. He should teach all the satyrs how to lie." Dionysus said with an agreeing nod from Hermes.

**I handed Mr. Brunner his pen. I hadn't even realized that I was still holding it.**

"**Sir," I said, "where's Mrs. Dodds?"**

**He stared at me blankly. "Who?"**

"Gods, that got so annoying!" Percy whined.

"**The other chaperone. Mrs. Dodds. The pre-algebra teacher."**

**He frowned and sat forward, looking mildly concerned. "Percy, there is no Mrs. Dodds on this trip. As far as I know, there has never been a Mrs. Dodds at Yancy Academy. Are you feeling alright?"**

Everyone laughed at that last line.

"That is the end. Who wishes to read next?" Percy asked.

"I guess I will, brother." Triton said.

**A/n. Phew! Long chapter! Please let me know what you think. Please review. Hope you liked it! I will be calling the son of Zeus Perseus and Percy Jackson Percy. Also, I know it was really early for Percy to reveal himself but it seemed to fit. **


	3. Chapter 3

**A/n. Here's chapter numero tres. I hope you like it. I noticed in the last chapter that when Percy asked for cereal, a bowl of Wheat Thins appeared in front of him. Wheat Thins are not cereal. It has now been changed to Wheaties (I hate AutoCorrect sometimes)!**

"So the next chapter is** Three Old Ladies Knit the Socks of Death." **He said, opening the book and preparing to read.

**"I was used to the occasional weird experience, but usually they were over quickly.**

"You were used to weird experiences? How can you be used to weird experiences?" Apollo asked incredulously.

"Yeah. Just look at my school life. You can't tell me that a cannon randomly blowing up a school bus isn't weird." Percy said, rolling his eyes.

"Fair point but you made that happen." Apollo conceded.

"I don't know how though. Cannons do not fall under Lord Poseidon's domain." Percy said thoughtfully.

Poseidon winced at being addressed so formally by his son.

**This twenty - four/seven hallucination was more than I could handle. For the rest of the school year, the entire campus seemed to be playing some kind of trick on me.**

"I hate the Mist!" Percy grumbled under his breath.

Niveus laughed and removed his arm from around Percy. Percy was immediately filled with a sense of loss but he just pushed it aside because he didn't know what it meant.

**The students acted as if they were completely and totally convinced that Mrs. Kerr - a perky blonde woman whom I'd never seen in my life until she got on our bus at the end of the field trip - had been our pre - algebra teacher since Christmas.**

"It was only me and Chiron trying to trick you." Grover said.

"G-man, I know that now. It was so annoying though." Percy said crossly, scowling.

**Every so often I would spring a Mrs. Dodds reference on somebody, just to see if I could trip them up, but they would stare at me like I was psycho.**

Everyone chuckled at that.

"Percy, you are a psycho." Thalia teased.

"I am not!" he exclaimed.

"So getting yourself blown up in a volcano does count as being psycho?" Nico asked, raising an eyebrow.

"You got yourself blown up?" Theseus, Orion, an Achilles asked with a tone of worry thick in their voices.

Percy gave a long-suffering sigh. "Long story. It's probably around the fourth book. If it's not then I will tell you."

The Warriors and some Heroes exchanged worried looks. They didn't know what had happened to their Master while he was on Earth but they all had a feeling that it wasn't good. They vowed to protect him and do whatever they could for him, both while reading these books and after.

**It got so I almost believed them—Mrs. Dodds had never existed.**

**Almost.**

**But Grover couldn't fool me.**

"You really do need to learn to lie." Hermes told the satyr gently.

"I know." Grover said with a sigh.

**When I mentioned the name Dodds to him, he would hesitate, and then claim she didn't exist. But I knew he was lying.**

**Something was going on. Something **_**had **_**happened at the museum.**

"Something did happen." Apollo said cheerfully.

"It's called a Fury!" Hermes said happily.

**I didn't have much time to think about it during the days, but at night, visions of Mrs. Dodds with talons and leathery wings would wake me up in a cold sweat.**

"That's tough." Niveus winced sympathetically.

"I hate demigod dreams!" Orion, Theseus and Perseus exclaimed.

"That's not even the worst ones that I've had. Just wait." Percy said unhappily.

**The freak weather continued, which didn't help my mood. One night, a thunderstorm blew out the windows in my dorm room. A few days later, the biggest tornado ever spotted in the Hudson Valley touched down only fifty miles from Yancy Academy. One of the current events we studied in social studies class was the unusual number of small planes that had gone down in sudden squalls in the Atlantic that year.**

"You know, looking back on this, I feel as if this whole mess was blown way out of proportion." Athena said in a slightly scolding tone.

Zeus and Poseidon looked sheepish.

**I started feeling cranky and irritable most of the time. My grades slipped from D's to F's.**

"Could you feel the tension between your father and Zeus?" Artemis asked wide-eyed.

"I could feel that something was not right but at the time, I was unaware of the gods and goddesses so I did not know of the fight between Uncle Zeus and Lord Poseidon." Percy explained.

"You must have been so confused." Demeter cooed.

"I was so stressed out because I didn't know what was going on or why I was feeling so angry all the time." Percy said with a scowl on his face.

**I got into more fights with Nancy Bobofit and her friends. I was sent out into the hallway in almost every class.**

Ares smiled.

**Finally, when our English teacher, Mr. Nicoll, asked me for the millionth time why I was too lazy to study for spelling tests, I snapped. I called him an old sot. I wasn't even sure what it meant, but it sounded good.**

Apollo and Hermes laughed.

"It's a-" Athena started but was rudely interrupted by Poseidon's "Nobody cares, Bird Brain!"

Athena threw him a dirty look but that look softened as Percy said, "Please continue Lady Athena. I am interested in hearing your explanation."

"Thank you, Percy. You don't need to be so formal, cousin. You may call me Athena." At Percy's nod, she continued, "Old sot means an old drunkard."

Percy cracked up laughing. "That just makes that so much funnier. Thank you Athena!"

Athena nodded and Reyna sent him a half fond half exasperated look.

**The headmaster sent my mom a letter the following week, making it official: I would not be invited back next year to Yancy Academy.**

**Fine, I told myself. Just fine.**

**I was homesick.**

"Awww!" Demeter and Hera cooed.

**I wanted to be with my mom in our little apartment on the Upper East Side, even if I had to go to public school and put up with my obnoxious stepfather and his stupid poker parties.**

Poseidon scowled.

"I didn't know that Paul was like that." Hazel said, remembering the time that she and Frank had gone over to Percy's house and met his mom and stepdad.

"This was before him." Percy said with a sad look on his face. He refused to elaborate past that.

**And yet... there were things I'd miss at Yancy. The view** **of the woods outside my dorm window, the Hudson River in the distance, the smell of pine trees. I'd miss Grover, who'd been a good friend,**

Grover smiled at that.

**even if he was a little strange.**

Grover's smile faded.

Dionysus started snickering.

Reyna smacked Percy upside the head. "That wasn't very nice at all." She said.

"Ouch Rey! You didn't need to smack me so hard!" Percy pouted, rubbing his sore head.

Jason, Orion, Theseus and Achilles laughed at Percy's pout, thinking that it made him look absolutely adorable.

**I worried how he'd survive next year without me.**

**I'd miss Latin class, too—Mr. Brunner's crazy tournament days and his faith that I could do well.**

**As exam week got closer, Latin was the only test I studied for.**

"Aw that's so cute. Trying to do well in school for Chiron."

**I hadn't forgotten what Mr. Brunner had told me about this subject being life-**

**and-death for me. I wasn't sure why, but I'd started to believe him.**

"At least you took him seriously." Thalia said.

"And why wouldn't I have?" Percy asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Percy you don't really think much about yourself. You're always helping others without a thought to your own safety." Nico said.

Percy thought for a minute before sighing. "Point proven."

Hades, Zeus and Hera exchanged looks. They were worried for their nephew. If he got into that much trouble, then may Chaos help them in the upcoming books.

**The evening before my final, I got so frustrated I threw the **_**Cambridge Guide to Greek Mythology **_**across my dorm room. Words had started swimming off the page, circling my head, the letters doing one-eighties as if they were riding skateboards. There was no way I was going to remember the difference between Chiron and Charon,**

"Well, you definitely know now!" Nico said cheerfully.

"And how exactly do you know that?" Achilles asked, raising an eyebrow at Percy's sheepish look.

"I may have went to the Underworld via Charon's boat on a quest." He said, rubbing the back of his neck.

Shocked looks were directed at Percy but he just whistled innocently and motioned for Triton to continue reading. He did so, but not before exchanging another worried look with his mother.

**or Polydictes and Polydeuces. **

Jason smiled, thinking about his old friend.

**And conjugating those Latin verbs? Forget it.**

**I paced the room, feeling like ants were crawling around inside my shirt.**

**I remembered Mr. Brunner's serious expression, his thousand-year-old eyes. **_**I will accept only the best from you, Percy Jackson.**_

**I took a deep breath. I picked up the mythology book.**

"Good idea." Athena said approvingly.

**I'd never asked a teacher for help before. Maybe if I talked to Mr. Brunner, he could give me some pointers. At least I could apologize for the big fat F I was about to score on his exam. I didn't want to leave Yancy Academy with him thinking I hadn't tried.**

"You might have had an easier time with school if you would have asked a teacher." Hestia said gently to her favorite nephew.

**I walked downstairs to the faculty offices. Most of them were dark and empty, but Mr. Brunner's door was ajar, light from his window stretching across the hallway floor.**

**I was three steps from the door handle when I heard voices inside the office. Mr. Brunner asked a question. A voice that was definitely Grover's said,**

"Idiot. You should have chosen another spot that wasn't close to Percy." Thalia said.

"Sorry." Grover said looking down. He knew that he was a screw-up.

"It's okay Grover." Thalia said kindly.

_**"...**_ **worried about Percy, sir."**

**I froze.**

**I'm not usually an eavesdropper,**

"Yeah, _sure_ you're not!" Nightmare said sarcastically.

Percy adopted an affronted look and walked over to Theseus. "Brother! She's being mean to me!" he whined.

"There there." Theseus said in amusement, softly patting Percy on the head. He tugged on Percy's hand and Percy fell forward and ended up sitting on Theseus' lap with Theseus' arms wrapped around his waist. **(A/n. Not incest. This is purely platonic.)**

**but I dare you to try not listening if you hear your best friend talking about you to an adult.**

"You have a point." Hades said with a nod.

**I inched closer.**

**"... alone this summer," Grover was saying. "I mean, a Kindly One in the **_**school**_**! Now that we know for sure, and **_**they **_**know too—"**

**"We would only make matters worse by rushing him," Mr. Brunner said. "We need the boy to mature more."**

"A lot more," Thalia muttered.

Several people laughed.

"Hey!" Percy pouted again.

Theseus laughed and ruffled Percy's hair, making him scowl.

**But he may not have time. The summer solstice dead line— **_**"**_

**"Will have to be resolved without him, Grover. Let him enjoy his ignorance while he still can."**

"He'll be enjoying that for quite some time then." Nico said with a smirk.

Percy leaned back against Theseus. "Now he's being mean to me too! Tell them to stop, brother!"

Theseus' lips were twitching. "I'm sorry, Perce, but I can't."

"Awwww!" Percy huffed.

**"Sir, he **_**saw **_**her..."**

**"His imagination," Mr. Brunner insisted. "The Mist over the students and staff will be enough to convince him of that."**

"Not so much anymore." Niveus said dryly. He felt slight anger at seeing Percy so close to Theseus.

"_They are just brothers, Luke. Get yourself together! It's not like you and Percy are together or anything."_ He told himself.

**"Sir, I ... I can't fail in my duties again." Grover's voice was choked with emotion. **

**"You know what that would mean."**

**"You haven't failed, Grover," Mr. Brunner said kindly. "I should have seen her for what she was. Now let's just worry about keeping Percy alive until next fall—"**

"That must have been depressing to hear." Persephone said sympathetically.

"You have no idea." Percy muttered with a frown.

**The mythology book dropped out of my hand and hit the floor with a thud.**

**Mr. Brunner went silent.**

"Get out of there Percy!" Hermes shouted. He didn't want Percy to get in trouble.

**My heart hammering, I picked up the book and backed down the hall.**

**A shadow slid across the lighted glass of Brunner's office door, the shadow of something much taller than my wheelchair-bound teacher, holding something that looked suspiciously like an archer's bow.**

"Is Chiron in his original form?" Andromeda asked incredulously.

"He must be. That's kind of dangerous, especially with so many mortals around. It's hard telling who could have seen." Achilles said.

**I opened the nearest door and slipped inside.**

**A few seconds later I heard a slow **_**clop-clop-clop, **_**like muffled wood blocks, then a sound like an animal snuffling right outside my door. A large, dark shape paused in front of the glass, and then moved on.**

"I'm surprised that Chiron didn't find him! Usually Chiron doesn't miss much." Dionysus said in shock.

"Well he wouldn't have been looking for Percy's sent because it would have been all over." Grover explained.

**A bead of sweat trickled down my neck.**

**Somewhere in the hallway, Mr. Brunner spoke. "Nothing," he murmured. "My nerves haven't been right since the winter solstice."**

"I don't think anyone's were." Amphitrite said.

Niveus winced slightly and Athena started wondering.

"_I wonder if that Niveus guy had anything to do with the Lighting Bolt being stolen. I will have to watch him carefully."_ Athena thought to herself, keeping a close eye on the cloaked figure.

**"Mine neither," Grover said. "But I could have sworn ..."**

**"Go back to the dorm," Mr. Brunner told him. "You've got a long day of exams tomorrow."**

**"Don't remind me."**

"It's the worst part about having to go through school so many times," Grover said with a shudder.

"I respect you for that G-man." Percy said, smiling.

Grover smiled back.

**The lights went out in Mr. Brunner's office.**

**I waited in the dark for what seemed like forever.**

"Good. You always want to make sure that whoever you are eavesdropping on is gone before you come out of hiding." Hermes nodded approvingly.

**Finally, I slipped out into the hallway and made my way back up to the dorm.**

**Grover was lying on his bed, studying his Latin exam notes like he'd been there all night.**

**"Hey," he said, bleary-eyed. "You going to be ready for this test?"**

**I didn't answer.**

**"You look awful." He frowned. "Is everything okay?"**

**"Just... tired."**

**I turned so he couldn't read my expression, and started getting ready for bed.**

Grover groaned. He hadn't thought anything of it at the time. He had just thought Percy was worried about the test. Apparently Percy was a better actor than everyone gave him credit for.

**I didn't understand what I'd heard downstairs. I wanted to believe I'd imagined the whole thing.**

**But one thing was clear: Grover and Mr. Brunner were talking about me behind my back. They thought I was in some kind of danger.**

**The next afternoon, as I was leaving the three-hour Latin exam,**

"Three hours?" Hermes, Apollo, Ares and Dionysus asked, aghast.

**my eyes swimming with all the Greek and Roman names I'd misspelled, Mr. Brunner called me back inside.**

**For a moment, I was worried he'd found out about my eavesdropping the night before, but that didn't seem to be the problem.**

**"Percy," he said. "Don't be discouraged about leaving Yancy. It's ... it's for the best."**

**His tone was kind, but the words still embarrassed me. Even though he was speaking quietly, the other kids finishing the test could hear. Nancy Bobofit smirked at me and made sarcastic little kissing motions with her lips.**

Hera, Hestia, and Persephone glared at the book. No one should be made fun of for being upset about their teacher saying something like that to them.

**I mumbled, "Okay, sir."**

**"I mean ..." Mr. Brunner wheeled his chair back and forth, like he wasn't sure what to say. "This isn't the right place for you. It was only a matter of time."**

"I don't think he's explaining himself very well at all." Nightmare said.

"He probably should have picked a better place to have this discussion at." Triton said, feeling a bit of anger at Chiron for no doubt making his brother feel bad; in front of his fellow classmates no less.

**My eyes stung.**

Ares snickered and he got blasted with sea water by Poseidon.

**Here was my favorite teacher, in front of the class, telling me I couldn't handle it. After saying he believed in me all year, now he was telling me I was destined to get kicked out.**

**"Right," I said, trembling.**

**"No, no," Mr. Brunner said. "Oh, confound it all. What I'm trying to say ... you're not normal, Percy. That's nothing to be—"**

"He's just making it worse." Aphrodite said in sympathy.

**"Thanks," I blurted. "Thanks a lot, sir, for reminding me."**

**"Percy—"**

**But I was already gone.**

Aphrodite, Persephone, and Demeter shot Percy a look filled with understanding sympathy.

**On the last day of the term, I shoved my clothes into my suitcase.**

"You really should fold those, dear. They will get all wrinkled if you don't." Amphitrite said, forgetting that this was in the past.

"Of course Mother." Percy said, deciding to just go along with it.

**The other guys were joking around, talking about their vacation plans. One of them was going on a hiking trip to Switzerland. Another was cruising the Caribbean for a month. They were juvenile delinquents, like me, but they were **_**rich **_**juvenile delinquents. Their daddies were executives, or ambassadors, or celebrities. I was a nobody, from a family of nobodies.**

"I'm not sure that I would call us nobodies, nephew." Hades chuckled ruefully.

"Sorry Uncle Hades." Percy said with a grin.

**They asked me what I'd be doing this summer and I told them I was going back to the city.**

**What I didn't tell them was that I'd have to get a summer job walking dogs or selling magazine subscriptions, and spend my free time worrying about where I'd go to school in the fall.**

**"Oh," one of the guys said. "That's cool."**

**They went back to their conversation as if I'd never existed.**

"Such nice mortals." Demeter said sarcastically.

**The only person I dreaded saying good-bye to was Grover, but as it turned out, I didn't have to. He'd booked a ticket to Manhattan on the same Greyhound as I had,**

"Wow... that's _so_ shocking!" Reyna said sarcastically.

**so there we were, together again, heading into the city.**

**During the whole bus ride, Grover kept glancing nervously down the aisle, watching the other passengers. It occurred to me that he'd always acted nervous and fidgety when we left Yancy, as if he expected something bad to happen.**

"It's hard to detect monsters when you're out in the open like that." Grover said. "There are so many different scents and they blend together."

**Before, I'd always assumed he was worried about getting teased. But there was nobody to tease him on the Greyhound.**

**Finally I couldn't stand it anymore.**

**I said, "Looking for Kindly Ones?"**

Grover shivered at that. "He scared me to death when he said that."

"That's a rather off-the-wall topic of discussion when on a bus full of mortals." Black Dahlia commented lightly.

**Grover nearly jumped out of his seat. "Wha—what do you mean?"**

**I confessed about eavesdropping on him and Mr. Brunner the night before the exam.**

"No don't confess!" Hermes and Apollo shouted.

**Grover's eye twitched. "How much **_**did **_**you hear?"**

**"Oh ... not much. What's the summer solstice dead-line?"**

"Not much... he just heard the whole conversation," Grover grumbled to himself, earning a few amused looks from those that heard him.

**He winced. "Look, Percy ... I was just worried for you, see? I mean, hallucinating about demon math teachers …"**

"Give it up goat-boy; he's not going to believe that anymore." Thalia said.

"I had to try." Grover defended himself.

**"Grover—"**

**"And I was telling Mr. Brunner that maybe you were overstressed or something, because there was no such person as Mrs. Dodds, and ..."**

**"Grover, you're a really, really bad liar."**

Everyone chuckled in agreement with that as Grover blushed.

**His ears turned pink.**

**From his shirt pocket, he fished out a grubby business card. "Just take this, okay? In case you need me this summer.**

**The card was in fancy script, which was murder on my dyslexic eyes, but I finally made out something like:**

"Grover... why was the card in that script if you only give it out to half-bloods who can't read?" Frank asked.

"Mr. D gave it to me," Grover shrugged.

"Of course he did," Niveus said and everyone rolled their eyes.

_**Grover Underwood**_

_**Keeper**_

_**Half-Blood Hill**_

_**Long Island, New York**_

_**(800)**_ _**009-0009**__** begin_of_the_skype_highlighting**____**end_of_the_skype_highlighting**_

**"What's Half—"**

**"Don't say it aloud!" he yelped. "That's my, um ... summer address."**

"It's definitely a summer address. It's in no way a camp for children of the gods and goddesses to receive training to fight monsters and possibly save the world." Hazel said drily.

**My heart sank. Grover had a summer home. I'd never considered that his family might be as rich as the others at Yancy.**

"What's that supposed to mean?" Grover asked.

"Nothing G-man." Percy said with a sigh. This whole reading his thoughts thing was beginning to get troublesome.

**"Okay," I said glumly. "So, like, if I want to come visit your mansion."**

**He nodded. "Or...or if you need me."**

**"Why would I need you?"**

"Percy!" Nightmare scolded.

"Sorry." Percy said sounding properly abashed.

Niveus grinned. It was always funny hearing Percy being so obedient when he is always so rebellious.

**It came out harsher than I meant it to.**

**Grover blushed right down to his Adam's apple. "Look, Percy, the truth is, I—I kind of have to protect you."**

**I stared at him.**

**All year long, I'd gotten in fights, keeping bullies away from him. I'd lost sleep worrying that he'd get beaten up next year without me. And here he was acting like he was the one who defended **_**me.**_

"You lost sleep over me?" Grover said.

"You are my friend. Of course I did." Percy explained in a 'duh' tone.

"Aw... isn't that sweet," Demeter cooed.

**"Grover," I said, "What exactly are you protecting me from?"**

**There was a huge grinding noise under our feet. Black smoke poured from the dashboard and the whole bus filled with a smell like rotten eggs.**

"That's kind of ominous... I mean, with the question you just asked, something just happens to make the bus stop!" Hermes said.

Aphrodite scrunched her nose at the mention of rotten eggs.

**The driver cursed and steered the Greyhound over to the side of the highway.**

**After a few minutes clanking around in the engine compartment, the driver announced that we'd all have to get off the bus.**

**We were on a stretch of country road—no place you'd notice if you didn't break down there. On our side of the highway was nothing but maple trees and litter from passing cars. On the other side, across four lanes of asphalt shimmering with afternoon heat, was an old-fashioned fruit stand.**

"That sounds familiar." Orion muttered thoughtfully.

**The stuff on sale looked really good: heaping boxes of blood red cherries and apples, walnuts and apricots, jugs of cider in a claw-foot tub full of ice**_**. **_**There were no customers, just three old ladies sitting in rocking chairs in the shade of a maple tree, knitting the biggest pair of socks I'd ever seen.**

Triton, Hades, and Zeus paled.

"It's the Fates," Thalia whispered, frowning.

Everyone else paled, knowing that if the Fates were there something terrible was bound to happen.

**I mean these socks were the size of sweaters, but they were clearly socks. The lady on the right knitted one of them. The lady on the left knitted the other. The lady in the middle held an enormous basket of electric-blue yarn.**

**All three women looked ancient, with pale faces wrinkled like fruit leather, silver hair tied back in white bandannas, bony arms sticking out of bleached cotton dresses.**

**The weirdest thing was, they seemed to be looking right at me.**

Everyone shivered.

**I looked over at Grover to say something about this and saw that the blood had drained from his face. His nose was twitching.**

**"Grover?" I said. "Hey, man—"**

**"Tell me they're not looking at you. They are, aren't they?"**

**"Yeah. Weird, huh? You think those socks would fit me?"**

**"Not funny, Percy. Not funny at all."**

"Definitely not." Hazel and Reyna said softly.

**The old lady in the middle took out a huge pair of scissors—gold and silver, long-bladed, like shears. I heard Grover catch his breath.**

**"We're getting on the bus," he told me. "Come on."**

"Yes, please just get out of there." Theseus pleaded, running his fingers through Percy's hair to calm himself.

**"What?" I said. "It's a thousand degrees in there."**

**"Come on!'" He pried open the door and climbed inside, but I stayed back.**

Nico groaned.

**Across the road, the old ladies were still watching me. The middle one cut the yarn, and I swear I could hear that **_**snip **_**across four lanes of traffic.**

"Oh my gods!" Thalia said, tears filling her eyes.

**Her two friends balled up the electric-blue socks, leaving me wondering who they could possibly be for—Sasquatch or Godzilla.**

"That's not funny." Apollo said grimly.

**At the rear of the bus, the driver wrenched a big chunk of smoking metal out of the engine compartment. The bus shuddered, and the engine roared back to life.**

"It's a little late for that." Athena said softly. She may not like Poseidon, but Percy was a good man. She respected him and was proud to call him her cousin. Hearing that he saw the Fates snip someone's cord made her extremely worried.

**The passengers cheered.**

**"Darn right!" yelled the driver. He slapped the bus with his hat. "Everybody back on board!"**

"He slapped it with his hat?" Niveus asked, amused despite the situation.

"Yeah because that's really going to do a lot." Artemis said. "Stupid male." She muttered lacking any real heat.

**Once we got going, I started feeling feverish, as if I'd caught the flu.**

**Grover didn't look much better. He was shivering and his teeth were chattering.**

**"Grover?"**

**"Yeah?"**

**"What are you not telling me?"**

"There is a lot he's not telling you." Triton said grimly.

**He dabbed his forehead with his shirt sleeve. "Percy, what did you see back at the fruit stand?"**

**"You mean the old ladies? What is it about them, man? They're not like ... Mrs. Dodds, are they?"**

"They are so much worse than a Fury, cousin." Hephaestus said grimly. He felt Aphrodite's hand slip into his and he looked over at her in shock. She smiled softly at him and he couldn't help but to return the smile.

**His expression was hard to read, but I got the feeling that the fruit-stand ladies were something much, much worse than Mrs. Dodds. He said, "Just tell me what you saw."**

**"The middle one took out her scissors, and she cut the yarn."**

Everyone shivered once again.

**He closed his eyes and made a gesture with his fingers that might've been crossing himself, but it wasn't. It was something else, something almost—older.**

"That's really observant that you noticed that without even knowing about us." Zeus said, a little impressed with his nephew.

**He said, "You saw her snip the cord."**

**"Yeah. So?" But even as I said it, I knew it was a big deal.**

**"This is not happening," Grover mumbled. He started chewing at his thumb. "I don't want this to be like the last time."**

Thalia sighed. "I forgot that this was before I came back."

**"What last time?"**

**"Always sixth grade. They never get past sixth."**

**"Grover," I said, because he was really starting to scare me. "What are you talking about?"**

**"Let me walk you home from the bus station. Promise me."**

**This seemed like a strange request to me, but I promised he could.**

"Some promise." Grover mumbled.

**"Is this like a superstition or something?" I asked.**

**No answer.**

**"Grover—that snipping of the yarn. Does that mean somebody is going to die?"**

Hazel shivered again. She did not want to think about her brother in all but blood dying.

**He looked at me mournfully, like he was already picking the kind of flowers I'd like best on my coffin.**

"Way to scare him to death, Grover." Nico said dryly.

Grover smiled sheepishly.

"That's it." Triton said.

"So not only do you have to face a Fury but then you have a run in with the Fates?" Achilles asked incredulously. He was starting to feel his respect for his Master grow.

Percy nodded.

"Your luck really sucks, Percy." Perseus said sympathetically.

"Story of my life." Percy muttered. He was not looking forward to the next chapter because he was sure that it would have Gabe in it and he did not want the others to know about the things that Gabe did to him.

**A/n. That's all! I hope you enjoyed it. Please review!**


	4. Chapter 4

**A/n. Hello everyone! I really have no excuse, so I'm going to save space and not even type one. I want to thank everyone for their kind reviews. **

**On to the story and I hope you like it.**

"Who wants to read next?" Triton asked.

"I will so I can get it over with." Apollo said mournfully.

Athena sent him a dirty look for disrespecting reading.

"The next chapter is **Chapter 3: Grover Unexpectedly Loses His Pants**"

Grover blushed and Percy laughed but quickly sobered up at what he knew would be happening soon.

Apollo cleared his throat.

**Confession time: I ditched Grover as soon as we got to the bus terminal.**

"Master Atra!" the Heroes all groaned.

"Now you lot can't tell me that you wouldn't have done the same. He was freaking me out." Percy whined with a mock glare at the cloaked figures.

They seemed to think it over before chorusing, "Yeah, I guess you have a point."

Percy shot them a smug look.

Hazel stared at Percy, still trying to reconcile this new, more sarcastic playful Percy to her brother in all but blood that she remembered. She could tell by one look at Frank and Reyna's face that they were trying to do the same.

**I know, I know. It was rude. But Grover was freaking me out,**

"Wow, Percy! You shouldn't agree with yourself like that. It can't be healthy." Thalia teased.

"Shut it Pinecone Face!" Percy shot back.

Thalia stuck her tongue out at him.

**Looking at me like I was a dead man, muttering "Why does this always happen?" and "Why does it always have to be sixth grade?"**

"That would get a little freaky." Apollo said and Hermes nodded in agreement.

"No kidding and you weren't even there." Percy muttered.

**Whenever he got upset, Grover's bladder acted up, so I wasn't surprised when, as soon as we got off the bus, he made me promise to wait for him, then made a beeline for the restroom.**

"Yeah, some way to keep a promise." Grover grumbled.

"I wish that I would have. It would have saved me some pain and sadness. Then, of course, little Annie would never have gotten her great quest." Percy said bitterly.

The Olympians and the Heroes that weren't there at the time shot him confused looks but he motioned them on.

Athena was thinking. She didn't like sea spawns but she also didn't like the way her daughter had treated Perseus Jackson. After he had done so much to earn her approval to date her daughter...he didn't deserve to be treated like that.

**Instead of waiting, I got my suitcase, slipped outside, and caught the first taxi uptown.**

"**East One-hundred-and-fourth and First." I told the driver.**

"Yes, I used to live there but I obviously don't anymore so no, you can't try anything." Percy said, shooting Hermes and Apollo a look. Their faces fell and the other Olympians chuckled.

Percy felt a little stirring of the feelings that he had thought he buried a long time ago as he saw Apollo and Hermes pouting at him. He ruthlessly squashed those feelings down. He could not afford to get involved with the two gods. He would not allow himself to fall in love again; he would only get hurt.

**A word about my mother, before you meet her.**

"She's awesome!" Nico exclaimed.

"She's the best!" Hazel exclaimed.

"She makes the best blue chocolate chip cookies ever!" Reyna exclaimed.

"Whatever happened to mom and Paul?" Percy asked. He had severed all ties with Earth when he was accepted into Chaos' army so had not been able to keep up with any news.

Thalia looked sad and she hesitantly told him what had happened.

"A few years after you left, Kronos was resurrected by Gaea and the other Titans. He and Oceanus went to their house and tortured and killed them." She said sadly.

Percy got an angry look on his face before it was replaced with a devastating sadness that made Niveus' heart clench. It was soon squashed by a steely look of determination and his eyes flared black. When he spoke, his voice was layered with other voices that were much older.

"I will kill them for what they have done. Their actions have sealed their fate." He intoned in a monotone.

The others were awed when the room shook and the floor cracked down the center, stopping when it was in front of Percy. A black smoke filled the room, issuing from the crack, and a figure rose from it.

The figure was tall, with black skin and swirling white patterns going all across it. He surveyed the room with disinterest until his eyes landed on Percy.

"You have invoked the ancient magicks, my son." He said solemnly.

"I know, Father, but it must be done. They cannot be allowed to roam free after what they have done. The Heroes work for justice and it's far past time that Kronos and Oceanus get what they have coming to them. They cannot be allowed to keep rampaging as they like." Percy said with finality.

"I hope you know what you are getting into, my son. Be careful and know that I watch over you. You may also be getting a surprise in a few chapters." The figure said with a wink before sinking back into the fissure in the ground. It sealed up, but a little piece of its darkness was left and it seemed to cling to Percy's shadow.

"Who was that, Percy?" Thalia asked curiously. It hadn't looked like Poseidon, nor sounded like him.

"That was my father." He said cryptically.

"That was dangerous, Master Atra. Did you know what you were doing?" Nightmare asked, lightly scolding.

"Of course. I always know what I'm doing." The Heroes scoffed. "Your sarcasm has been noted and it is not very appreciated. But anyway, I knew it would summon somebody but I didn't know who. They will feel my wrath, by the name of Nemesis." Percy said dangerously, eyes flaring violet.

A chilling wind swept through the room and everyone but Percy shivered. Percy smiled while the wind seemed to curl around him affectionately before dissipating.

"Shall we get back to reading now?" he asked charmingly.

"You're a strange one, Percy." Reyna said.

Apollo picked the book up and began where he left off.

**Her name is Sally Jackson and she is the best person in the world, which just proves my theory that the best people have the rottenest luck.**

Poseidon's happy smile at the mention of Sally drifted off his face to be replaced by a frown.

**Her own parents died in a plane crash when she was five, and she was raised by an uncle that didn't care much about her. She wanted to be a novelist, so she spent high school working to save enough money for a college with a good creative-writing program.**

**Then her uncle got cancer, and she had to quit school her senior year to take care of him. After he died, she was left with no money, no family, and no diploma.**

Hera cooed softly. She felt a small pang of sadness that such a good mother was dead.

**The only good break she ever got was meeting my dad.**

Poseidon got a sappy grin on his face again and Aphrodite cooed.

**I don't have any memories of him, just this sort of warm glow, maybe the barest trace of his smile.**

Poseidon smiled happily at his son while Zeus frowned. That sounded like Poseidon had gone and visited his son and that was supposed to be against the rules.

Percy kept a straight look on his face and the other sons of Poseidon silently agreed to talk to him when there was a break.

**My mom doesn't like to talk about him because it makes her sad.**

Poseidon's happy smile dropped off his face again.

**She has no pictures.**

**See, they weren't married. She told me he was rich and important, and their relationship was a secret. Then one day, he set sail across the Atlantic on some important journey, and he never came back.**

**Lost at sea, my mom told me. Not dead. Lost at sea.**

"Sally Jackson knows how to lie. Maybe you should have taken lessons from her." Hermes said to Grover.

Grover blushed but laughed.

"She did offer to give me tips one day." He said with a nostalgic smile on his face.

**She worked odd jobs, took night classes to get her high school diploma, and raised me on her own. She never complained or got mad. Not even once.**

"She must have been a saint then." Niveus said.

"Excuse me!?" Percy said with a mock glare.

Niveus gulped. "Nothing." He said nervously.

Master Atra may not have been glaring for real, but he was damn scary when he glared. It was like hellfire was coming from his eyes.

"That's what I thought." He said satisfied.

Behind Percy's back, Deathmaster made a whipping motion at Niveus. Niveus stuck his tongue out and flushed lightly under his hood, glad that Percy couldn't see him.

**But I knew I wasn't an easy kid.**

"See, you agree with me." Niveus said. He got blasted in the face with sea water.

"Now I hardly think that was necessary." Niveus spluttered.

"On the contrary, I found it extremely necessary." Percy said teasingly with a lopsided grin.

**Finally, she married Gabe Ugliano, who was nice the first thirty seconds we knew him, then showed his true colors as a world-class jerk.**

Percy got an ugly look on his face and the room started to shake again. Nightmare put an arm around him and he calmed a bit but the ugly look remained.

The goddesses all frowned.

**When I was young, I nicknamed him Smelly Gabe.**

Hermes, Apollo, Nico, and the Heroes burst out laughing. Thalia tried to look disapproving but the corners of her mouth were twitching. The other gods chuckled a bit.

Percy's breathing hitched a bit as he fervently wished that the book wouldn't mention too much about Gabe.

**I'm sorry, but it's the truth. The guy reeked like moldy garlic pizza wrapped in gym shorts.**

Aphrodite looked green while several of the others gagged. Several people were thinking that Percy must have also been a saint to put up with that.

**Between the two of us, we made my mom's life pretty hard. The way Smelly Gabe treated her, the way he and I got along … well, when I came home is a good example.**

Apollo began to get a bad feeling about Gabe. He had been close to Percy when he was at Camp Half-Blood and he had been devastated when Percy had left. He really didn't like where he thought all this Gabe business was leading.

**I walked into our little apartment, hoping my mom would be home from work. Instead, Smelly Gabe was in the living room, playing poker with his buddies. The television blared ESPN. Chips and beer cans were strewn all over the carpet. **

"By the gods, that's disgusting!" Niveus exclaimed, aghast.

**Hardly looking up, he said around his cigar, "So, you're home."**

"**Where's my mom?"**

"**Working," he said. "You got any cash?"**

"He is seriously going to ask you for money?" Hades and Ares asked.

"What? No welcome back or good to see you?" Hermes asked incredulously.

**That was it. No Welcome back. Good to see you. How has your life been the last six months?**

Hermes blushed at having said the same thing as Percy but he smiled. Percy had saved Luke and he will always be grateful for that. He was also a great kid and Hermes loved being near him.

"Stupid of me to even hope he would say it." Percy grumbled to himself.

**Gabe had put on weight. He looked like a tuskless walrus in thrift-store clothes. He had about three hairs on his head, all combed over his bald scalp, as if that made him handsome or something.**

The females in the room all looked sick.

"That most certainly does not." Aphrodite said.

**He managed the Electronics Mega-Mart in Queens, but he stayed home most of the time. I don't know why he hadn't been fired long before. He just kept on collecting paychecks, spending the money on cigars that made me nauseous, and on beer, of course. Always beer.**

"That's great!" Andromeda said sarcastically, wrinkling her nose.

**Whenever I was home, he expected me to provide his gambling funds. He called that our "Guy secret." Meaning, if I told my mom, he would punch my lights out.**

Poseidon growled angrily while all the gods scowled. When they saw Poseidon's dangerous look, they all shrunk back from him. He was damn scary when he was mad.

Poseidon shrunk down to his human sized form and grabbed Percy into a hug. He gripped him tightly and whispered in his ear,

"He never hit you, did he?"

Percy struggled against Poseidon and said darkly, "What do you care? You probably think it serves me right, yeah?"

Everyone was taken aback. "How could you even think that, Percy?" Poseidon whispered.

"You abandoned me for Peter! You threw me away like month old garbage! Everyone forgot about me. So what if I was abused? Don't act like you care about me because you don't!" Percy yelled before storming off into the room connected to the throne room.

Everyone was shocked, but none more so than the Heroes and campers **(that's what I'm calling Nico, Thalia, and Grover)**. They had never known that Percy was abused.

They all looked worriedly at the slammed door and Apollo slowly got up from his throne and shrank down to human size. "I'm going to go check on him." He said softly.

He hesitantly opened the door and stepped in, closing it softly behind him. Percy was facing away from him. "What do you want, Lord Apollo?" he asked coldly, not turning around.

"I just wanted to make sure that you were okay." Apollo said carefully.

"What the hell do you care?" Percy asked loudly, whirling around. Apollo gasped as he was faced with burning red eyes. "Nobody cares about me; they didn't then and they don't now." He whispered.

"That's not true Percy. I never gave up on you, you know. Neither did Hermes and most of the others. Sure a few of them were happy to go along with it but you have to know that I never did." Apollo said softly, taking a step forward.

"You lie." Percy hissed. "I was completely abandoned! I was all alone." Percy said, a tear escaping his eye.

"Come here Percy." Apollo said gently, holding out his arms. Percy ran into them, grateful for the comfort Apollo was offering. "I promise that you aren't alone. You may have been at one time but you aren't now. You have me and most of the other Olympians, your Heroes and Warriors, the campers and so many more." Apollo said, running a comforting hand up and down Percy's back. He tried to ignore the reaction his body had to the demigod and focus on helping him.

"Can I see what that bastard did to you?" Apollo asked quietly, running a hand through Percy's hair.

"Why?" Percy asked cautiously.

"I want to help you." Apollo said with a small smile.

Percy sighed and stepped back. He undid his cloak and laid it neatly over the table. He unbuttoned his shirt and let it fall from his shoulders. Apollo gasped as his eyes raked across the thin slashed crisscrossing his torso and chest.

"Are all of these from Gabe?" Apollo asked angrily.

"Mostly. I've gotten some of them over the years." Percy explained before he turned around, showing the god his back. Apollo let out another choked gasp and paled drastically. Percy's back was littered with scars. The words _freak_, _abomination_, and _filth_ were carved into his back.

Just then the door opened and Hermes stood in the frame. "Hey Apollo, is Percy…" his words died in his throat as he took in Percy's back before he had the chance to turn around. He quickly shut the door and walked over to Percy. He gently turned an unresisting Percy around so he was facing away from them and traced the words across his back.

Percy shivered.

"How long?" Hermes asked dangerously.

"Every day since I was three." Percy said hesitantly.

Hermes and Apollo both sucked in a sharp breath. They started to smoke then abruptly burst into flames. Hermes was enveloped in white flames while Apollo's were golden.

"I'm fine, guys! See, I'm right here. Nothing's going to happen to me. I survived and you don't have to worry about Gabe anymore. None of us has to ever again." Percy reassured with a grim smile.

The flames still burned brightly and Percy sighed.

He stepped into the bicolored flames and wrapped his arms around the two enraged gods. He held on as they wept into his neck. Percy whispered comforting words in their ear.

"He raped you too, didn't he?" Apollo asked quietly.

"Yeah, he did." Percy whispered lowly.

The flames flared brighter, but this time, there was another set of flames accompanying them. This new set was a brilliant black that arced up in a graceful spiral.

Gradually, the flames calmed and disappeared completely. Percy continued hugging the gods and they gradually calmed down.

"You never should have been through that Percy. You are the most kind-hearted, brave, selfless person I have ever met and you didn't deserve that." Apollo said mournfully.

"It's okay…really." He added at the twin disbelieving looks sent his way. "I got through it and it made me stronger for it. I learned some value self-preservation lessons and Gabe got what he deserved in the end." Percy said comfortingly.

"You know, we are the ones supposed to be reassuring you not the other way around." Hermes said with a small smile.

Percy smiled mysteriously then walked back to the table to get his shirt and cloak. Apollo and Hermes admired the sharp planes of his back and the way his hips swung when he walked. They had already noted his solid abs when he was hugging them and they tried to stop their reactions.

"You know, if you wanted to stare at my ass you could have just said so." Percy remarked drily causing the two gods to flush.

He rolled his eyes before putting his shirt back on and swiftly buttoning it. He wrapped his cloak back around his shoulders offered the gods a sly smile.

Apollo and Hermes growled lowly.

"You are too damn sexy for your own good Percy." Hermes said lowly. He stalked forward and lifted Percy's chin. Before he could stop himself, his lips were pressed firmly against Percy's. Percy moaned slightly as Hermes drew back and they both panted.

"Lord Hermes…?" Percy asked questioningly.

"None of this Lord stuff." Hermes said, scrunching his nose. "Just Hermes will do, after all, we can't have you calling me Lord when I'm staring at your ass, now can we?" Hermes said before leaving the room with a wink.

Apollo's usually bright cerulean eyes had darkened to navy in his desire. "That…was hot." He admitted huskily, not even aware of moving forward until he stood centimeters from Percy. "You shouldn't tease your elders like that, Perseus." Apollo whispered lowly before fusing their lips together, eliciting a gasp from Percy.

Apollo took the chance and swept his tongue inside Percy's mouth. He pulled back with a boyish grin when he saw Percy's dazed face. "And that's how you kiss someone." Apollo said dramatically, kissing Percy one last time before leaving the room. He grinned as he felt Percy's eyes on his ass until the door was closed.

Percy stood there, dazed, for a few minutes before he took a deep breath to compose himself. He slowly walked forward and opened the door, emotionless mask firmly back in place.

"Master Atra, are you alright?" Niveus asked in concern.

"I'm okay, Niveus. Do not worry so." Percy said with a smile.

"Let's read now shall we?" Percy asked brightly before an idea came to him. "I think all the Olympians should be in their human forms. It would make the books easier to bear, I think."

The Olympians agreed and shrank down to their human sized forms.

Apollo picked up the book and found his place, thoughts occupied by what he learned about Percy and the kiss they had shared. He sent a quick thought to the other Olympians who he knew was on Percy's side, promising to explain during the break and began reading again.

"**I don't have any cash," I told him.**

**He raised a greasy eyebrow.**

Aphrodite wrinkled her nose again.

**Gabe could sniff out money like a bloodhound, which was surprising, since his own smell should've covered up everything else.**

Athena got a thoughtful look on her face. Did Sally do what she thought she did? If so, she was a truly remarkable woman.

"**You took a taxi from the bus station," he said. "Probably paid with a twenty. Got six, seven bucks in change. Somebody expects to live under this roof, he ought to carry his own weight. Am I right, Eddie?"**

"Nobody cares about Eddie's opinion." Jason said dangerously.

**Eddie, the super of the building, looked at me with a twinge of sympathy. "Come on, Gabe," he said. "the kid just got here."**

"He's not too bad, I guess." Achilles said reluctantly.

"**Am I right?" Gabe repeated.**

"No, you're wrong." Black Dahlia said.

**Eddie scowled into his bowl of pretzels. The other two guys passed gas in harmony.**

Once again, all the females in the group looked green and even some of the guys looked disgusted.

"That's attractive." Theseus said drily.

"**Fine," I said. I dug a wad of dollars out of my pocket and threw the money on the table. "I hope you lose."**

"Oh, I think he will." Dionysus said, getting caught up in the book and forgetting that the man was long dead. Nobody messed with the demigods in his camp, especially not Percy Jackson.

"**Your report card came, brain boy!" he shouted after me. "I wouldn't act so snooty!"**

Athena got an angry look on her face. That stupid half a brain cell had no right to say that to a demigod.

**I slammed the door to my room, which really wasn't my room. During school months, it was Gabe's "study." He didn't study anything in there**

Athena looked scandalized.

**Except old car magazines, but he loved shoving my stuff in the closet, leaving his muddy boots on my windowsill, and doing his best to make the room smell like his nasty cologne and cigars and stale beer.**

Now everyone was definitely thinking that Percy was a saint.

**I dropped my suitcase on the bed. Home sweet home.**

"That's just sad." Artemis said sympathetically.

Hera cooed softly.

**Gabe's smell was almost worse than the nightmares about Mrs. Dodds, or the sound of that old fruit lady's shears snipping the yarn.**

**But as soon as I thought that, my legs felt weak.**

"Wuss." Ares muttered.

He was blasted in the face with sea water courtesy of Poseidon.

**I remembered Grover's look of panic - how he'd made me promise I wouldn't go home without him. A sudden chill rolled through me. I felt like someone – something – was looking for me right now, maybe pounding its way up the stairs, growing long, horrible talons.**

"Percy, your imagination scares me!" Apollo and Hermes said, cowering under their thrones and holding unto each other.

Percy rolled his eyes and told Apollo to read and Hermes to get back on his throne.

**Then I heard my mom's voice. "Percy?"**

**She opened the bedroom door, and my fears melted.**

Hera, Artemis, and Aphrodite cooed.

Ares muttered something under his breath that got him blasted in the face with salt water again.

**My mother can make me feel good just by walking into the room. Her eyes sparkle and change color in the light. Her smile is as warm as a quilt. She's got a few grey streaks mixed in with her long brown hair,**

"Probably from you." Nico teased.

Percy looked affronted before getting a wicked smirk on his face.

Nico looked a little scared. "Percy, what are you planning? I don't like that look! Percy?!" he asked frantically.

Percy smirked and closed his eyes.

Nico looked around wildly before jumping violently out of his seat as a skeleton hand grabbed onto his shoulder.

"AAAAAAH!" Nico screamed shrilly.

Everyone laughed as Nico picked himself up and glared at Percy.

"Come on Zombie Boy! Afraid of some skeletons, are we?" Percy teased with a happy smile.

Nico shot him a dirty look before playfully slapping him in the back of the head. "Hush you." He said fondly.

**But I never think of her as old. When she looks at me, it's like she's seeing all the good things about me, none of the bad. I've never heard her raise her voice or say an unkind word to anyone, not even me or Gabe.**

"**Oh, Percy." She hugged me tight. "I can't believe it. You've grown since Christmas!"**

**Her red-white-and-blue Sweet on America uniform smelled like the best things in the world: chocolate, licorice, and all the other stuff she sold at the candy shop in Grand Central. She'd brought me a huge bag of "free samples," the way she always did when I came home.**

"I want!" Perseus drooled.

Percy rolled his eyes and snapped his fingers. A big bag of candy appeared in front of Perseus, and, before they could say anything, a bag appeared in front of Apollo and Hermes.

Thanks Percy!" they said happily.

**We sat together on the edge of the bed. While I attacked the blueberry sour strings, she ran her hand through my hair and demanded to know everything I hadn't put in my letters. She didn't mention anything about me getting expelled. She didn't seem to care about that. But was I okay? Was her little boy doing all right?**

Hera cooed again.

**I told her she was smothering me, and to lay off and all that, but secretly, I was really, really glad to see her.**

All the girls smiled.

**From the other room, Gabe yelled, "Hey, Sally – how about some bean dip, huh?"**

All the happiness drained from the room to be met with a strained atmosphere.

Dark auras emanated from Apollo and Hermes.

**I gritted my teeth.**

**My mom is the nicest lady in the world. She should've been married to a millionaire, not to some jerk like Gabe.**

"How about a god?" Niveus whispered slyly.

"Not the one she was in a relationship with." Percy frowned.

**For her sake, I tried to sound upbeat about my last days at Yancy Academy. I told her I wasn't too down about the expulsion. I'd lasted almost the whole year his time. I'd made some new friends. I'd done pretty well in Latin. And honestly, the fights hadn't been as bad as the headmaster said. I liked Yancy Academy. I really did. I put such a good spin on the year, I almost convinced myself. I started choking up, thinking about Grover and Mr. Brunner. Even Nancy Bobofit suddenly didn't seem so bad.**

"Wow that must have been some spin!" Grover said incredulously.

**Until that trip to the museum…**

"Damn!" Grover sighed.

"**What?" my mom asked. Her eyes tugged at my conscience, trying to pull out the secrets. "Did something scare you?"**

"**No, Mom."**

"You shouldn't lie to your mother." Hera said.

"Maybe he just needs some cereal." Demeter said.

"For Zeus' sake woman! No one wants any cereal!" Hades said exasperatedly.

Demeter glared at him.

**I felt bad lying. I wanted to tell her about Mrs. Dodds and the three old ladies with the yarn, but I thought it would sound stupid.**

"Fatal mistake that." Percy grumbled to himself.

**She pursed her lips. She knew I was holding back, but she didn't push me.**

"**I have a surprise for you," she said. "We're going to the beach."**

**My eyes widened. "Montauk?"**

"You always did love it there." Triton said happily.

"**Three nights – same cabin."**

"**When?"**

**She smiled. "As soon as I get changed."**

**I couldn't believe it. My mom and I hadn't been to Montauk the last two summers, because Gabe said there wasn't enough money.**

"Screw Gabe!" Nico said.

"Let's not." Percy said looking green. Everyone else turned green once they caught on.

"Ugh Kelp Head! I didn't mean it that way!? Nico exclaimed hurriedly.

**Gabe appeared in the doorway and growled, "Bean dip, Sally? Didn't you hear me?" **

Amphitrite growled.

**I wanted to punch him,**

"Do it!" Ares yelled.

**But I met my mom's eyes and I understood she was offering me a deal: be nice to Gabe for a little while. Just until she was ready to leave for Montauk. Then we would get out of here.**

"**I was on my way, honey," she told Gabe. "We were just talking about the trip."**

**Gabe's eyes got small. "The trip? You mean you were serious about that?"**

"**I knew it," I muttered. "He won't let us go."**

"**Of course he will," My mom said evenly. "Your stepfather is just worried about money. That's all. Besides," she added, "Gabriel won't have to settle for bean dip. I'll make him enough seven-layer dip for the whole weekend. Guacamole. Sour cream. The works."**

"She knows how to bribe." Hermes said.

**Gabe softened a bit. "So this money for your trip… it comes out of your clothes budget, right?"**

"Clothes budget?!" Aphrodite shrieked. "No. No, that is not alright!"

"**Yes, honey," My mother said.**

"**And you won't take my car anywhere but there and back?"**

"**We'll be very careful."**

**Gabe scratched his double chin.**

Aphrodite, Persephone, Artemis, Amphitrite and Hera all looked sick.

"**Maybe if you hurry with that seven-layer dip… and maybe if the kid apologizes for interrupting my poker game."**

"So he has the nerve to ask you for money right after you walk in the door, but then accuses you of interrupting his game?" Nightmare was seething.

**Maybe if I kick you in your soft spot, I thought. And make you sing soprano for a week.**

The room burst out into laughter.

**But my mom's eyes warned me not to make him mad.**

**Why did she put up with this guy? I wanted to scream. Why did she care what he thought?**

"**I'm sorry," I muttered. "I'm really sorry I interrupted your incredibly important poker game. Please go back to it right now."**

"Ooh! Burn!" Orion yelled with a fist pump.

**Gabe's eyes narrowed. His tiny brain was probably trying to detect sarcasm in my statement.**

"Can't even do that!" Zeus snorted.

"**Yeah, whatever," He decided.**

**He went back to his game.**

"**Thank you, Percy," my mom said. "Once we get to Montauk, we'll talk more about… whatever you've forgotten to tell me, okay?"**

**For a moment, I thought I saw anxiety in her eyes – the same fear I'd seen in Grover during the bus ride – as if my mom, too, felt an odd chill in the air.**

**But then her smile returned, and I figured I must have been mistaken. She ruffled my hair and went to make Gabe his seven-layer dip.**

**An hour later, we were ready to leave.**

**Gabe took a break from his poker game long enough to watch me lug my mom's bags to the car. He kept griping and groaning about losing her cooking – and more important, his '78 Camaro – for the whole weekend.**

"**Not a scratch on this car, brain boy," he warned me as I loaded the last bag. "Not one little scratch."**

"Like he'd be driving." Hazel muttered.

**Like I'd be the one driving. I was twelve.**

"Stupid half a brain cell!" Athena murmured.

Hazel smiled.

**But that didn't matter to Gabe. If a seagull so much as pooped on his paint job, he'd find a way to blame me.**

Poseidon got a wicked smirk on his face.

**Watching him limber back toward the apartment building, I got so mad I did something I can't explain. A Gabe reached the doorway, I made the hand gesture I'd seen Grover make on the bus, a sort of warding-off-evil gesture, a clawed hand over my heart, then a shoving movement toward Gabe. **

"It won't work. It doesn't work on mortals." Athena said matter-of-factly.

**The screen door slammed shut so hard it whacked him in the butt**

Athena was stunned.

**And sent him flying up the staircase as if he'd been shot from a cannon.**

"You were saying?" Hermes and Percy asked before looking at each other with a smile.

**Maybe it was just the wind, or some freak accident with the hinges, but I didn't stay long enough to find out.**

**I got in the Camaro and told my mom to step on it.**

**Our rental cabin was on the south shore, way out at the tip of Long Island.**

Poseidon got a sappy smile on his face.

**It was a little pastel box with faded curtains, half sunken into the dunes. There was always sand in the sheets and spiders in the cabinets,**

Athena shuddered.

**And most of the time the sea was too cold to swim in.**

"Wouldn't that not affect you?" Hephaestus asked.

"It didn't. It must be talking about the mortals." Percy said with a shrug before smiling happily.

"I love that place!" Percy, Orion, and Theseus said dreamily.

Theseus and Orion had been there when Percy took them with him shortly after they joined Chaos' army.

Apollo snickered before reading.

**I loved the place.**

Everyone snickered while the sons of Poseidon continued to stare dreamily off into space.

**We'd been going there since I was a baby. My mom had been going even longer. She never actually said, but I knew why the beach was special to her. It was the place where she'd met my dad.**

"Awww!" the goddesses except Athena cooed.

**As we got closer to Montauk, she seemed to grow younger, years of worry and work disappearing from her face. Her eyes turned the color of the sea.**

"Yours did that too." Thalia said.

Percy shot her a questioning look.

"Whenever we got near a body of water, your eyes turned the color of the ocean. You had really pretty eyes." Thalia said before blushing slightly.

Percy shrugged and motioned for Apollo to continue.

**We got there at sunset, opened all the cabin's windows, and went through our usual cleaning routine. We walked on the beach, fed blue corn chips to the seagulls, and munched on blue jelly beans, blue salt water taffy, and all the other free samples my mom had brought from work.**

"What is with all the blue food?" Zeus asked.

"If you wait a minute, I am sure we will find out." Hestia said.

**I guess I should explain the blue food.**

"See?" Hestia asked.

**See, Gabe had once told my mom there was no such thing. They had this fight, which seemed like a really small thing at the time. But ever since, my mom went out of her way to eat blue: She baked blue birthday cakes. She mixed blueberry smoothies. She bought blue-corn tortilla chips and brought home blue candy from the shops. This – along with keeping her maiden name, Jackson, rather than calling herself Mrs. Ugliano – was proof that she wasn't totally suckered by Gabe. She did have a rebellious streak,**

"Must be where you get it from then." Nightmare said.

Percy pouted.

**Like me.**

"I guess you agree with me then." Nightmare said.

"But Master Atra's isn't so much of a streak, more like in infinite river." Niveus said with an amused chuckle which caused Percy to roll his eyes.

"Stupid subordinates who can't keep their mouth shut." He grumbled darkly, causing Niveus to snort in amusement.

**When it got dark, we made a fire. We roasted hot dogs and marshmallows. Mom told me stories about when she was a kid, back before her parents died in the plane crash. She told me about the books she wanted to write someday, when she had enough money to quit the candy shop.**

**Eventually, I got up the nerve to ask about what was always on my mind whenever we came to Montauk – my father. Mom's eyes went all misty. I figured she would tell me the same things she always did, but I never got tired of hearing them.**

"Awww!" Nico mock cooed.

"Shut up, Zombie Boy!" Percy said with a glare.

"**He was kind, Percy," she said. "Tall, handsome, and powerful. But gentle, too. You have his black hair, you know, and his green eyes."**

"They do look a lot alike." Apollo said thoughtfully.

**Mom fished a blue jelly bean out of her candy bag. "I wish he could see you, Percy. He would be so proud."**

"I am proud of you." Poseidon said, but was met with a steely glare.

**I wondered how she could say that. What was so great about me? A dyslexic, hyperactive boy with a D+ report card, kicked out of school for the sixth time in six years. **

"I think that is a record!" Reyna said.

"Wow, Master Atra! You were worse than I was." Niveus exclaimed.

"**How old was I?" I asked. "I mean…when he left?"**

**She watched the flames. "He was only with me for one summer, Percy. Right here at this beach. This cabin."**

"**But…he knew me as a baby."**

"I did visit you once." Poseidon said with a smile.

"Brother, that is against the rules!" Zeus exclaimed.

"So? I wanted to see my only demigod son." Poseidon said simply.

"**No, honey. He knew I was expecting a baby, but he never saw you. He had to leave before you were born."**

**I tried to square that with the fact that I seemed to remember… something about my father. A warm glow. A smile.**

Poseidon smiled sadly, wishing that they could go back so he could fix his mistakes.

**I have always assumed he knew me as a baby. My mom had never said it outright, but still. I'd felt it must be true. Now, to be told that he'd never seen me . . .**

"Sally didn't know I visited." Poseidon said with a wink.

**I felt angry at my father. Maybe it was stupid, but I resented him for going on that ocean voyage, for not having the guts to marry my mom. **

**He'd left us, and now we were stuck with Smelly Gabe.**

Poseidon winced slightly.

**"Are you going to send me away again?" I asked her. "To another boarding school?"**

**She pulled a marshmallow from the fire.**

**"I don't know, honey." Her voice was heavy. "I think . . . I think we'll have to do something."**

**"Because you don't want me around?"**

"Ouch, Master Atra! That was harsh!" Niveus said.

"I know and I was sorry." Percy said with a sigh.

**I regretted the words as soon as they were out.**

"Good." Nightmare said.

**My mom's eyes welled with tears. She took my hand, squeezed it tight. **

**"Oh, Percy, no. I-I **_**have**_** to, honey. For your own good. I have to send you away."**

**Her words reminded me of what Mr. Brunner had said-that it was the best for me to leave Yancy.**

**"Because I'm not normal," I said.**

"You sure aren't!" Nico said cheerfully.

"You say that like it's a bad thing." Percy said with a slight pout.

"_He looks kind of cute when he does that."_ Niveus thought before shaking his head.

**"You say that as if it's a bad thing, Percy. **

Everyone laughed.

**But you don't realize how important you are. I thought Yancy Academy would be far enough away. I thought you'd finally be safe."**

**"Safe from what?"**

"I'm kind of glad she didn't tell me. I would have thought she was insane." Percy said.

**She met my eyes, and a flood of memories came back to me-all the weird, scary things that had ever happened to me, some of which I'd tried to forget.**

**During third grade, a man in a black trench coat had stalked me on the playground. When the teachers threatened to call the police, he went away growling, but no one believed me when I told them that under is broad-brimmed hat, the man only had one eye, right in the middle of his head.**

"Why is a Cyclops stalking your child when a Cyclops is one of your children?" Apollo asked rather confusingly.

"He was keeping watch over Percy." Poseidon explained.

**Before that-a really early memory. I was in preschool, and a teacher accidentally put me down for a nap in a cot that a snake had slithered into. My mom screamed when she came to pick me up and found me playing with a limp, scaly rope I'd somehow managed to strangle to death with my meaty toddler hands.**

The Olympians looked impressed.

**In every single school, something creepy had happened, something unsafe, and I was forced to move.**

**I knew I should tell my mom about the old ladies at the fruit stand, and Mrs. Dodds at the art museum, about my weird hallucination that I had sliced my math teacher into dust with a sword.**

**But I couldn't make myself to tell her. I had a strange feeling the news would end our trip to Montauk, and I didn't want that.**

"Just to stay close to mother dearest." Athena said sarcastically.

Percy glared at her. "Don't you talk about things that you don't understand." He said icily.

Athena looked taken aback.

**"I've tried to keep you as close to me as I could," my mom said. "They told me that was a mistake. But there's only one other option, Percy-the place your father wanted to send you. And I just . . . I just can't stand to do it."**

**"My father wanted me to go to a special school?"**

"It's not a school! It's a summer camp!" Apollo and Hermes said cheerfully.

**"Not a school," she said softly. "A summer camp."**

"That was weird." They commented.

**My head was spinning. Why would my dad-who hadn't even stayed around long enough to see me born-talk to my mom about a summer camp? And if it was so important, why hadn't she ever mentioned it before?**

**I'm sorry, Percy," she said, seeing the look in my eyes. "But I can't talk about it. I-I couldn't send you to that place. It might mean saying good-bye to you for good."**

**"For good? But if it's only a summer camp . . ."**

**She turned toward the fire, and I knew from her expression that if I asked any more questions she would start to cry.**

**That night I had a vivid dream.**

Percy sighed. He hated demigod dreams.

"I hate demigod dreams." Nico and Thalia sighed.

"Percy's are always the worst though." Grover pointed out.

"True that." They conceded after a moment of thought.

Percy pouted but didn't bother to try denying it.

**It was storming on the beach, and two beautiful animals, a white horse and a golden eagle, were trying to kill each other at the edge of the surf.**

"You two." the Olympians sighed.

**The eagle swooped down and slashed the horse's muzzle with its huge talons. The horse reared up and kicked at the eagle's wings. As they fought, the ground rumbled, and a monstrous voice chuckled somewhere beneath the earth, goading the animals to fight harder.**

The Olympians exchanged looks.

**I ran toward them, knowing I had to stop them from killing each other, but I was running in slow motion. I knew I would be too late. I saw the eagle dive down, its beak aimed at the horse's wide eyes, and I screamed, **_**No!**_

"Awww and I was winning!" Zeus whined like a petulant child, crossed arms and pout included.

**I woke with a start.**

**Outside, it really was storming; the kind of storm that cracks trees and blows down houses. There was no horse or eagle on the beach, just lightning making false daylight, and twenty-foot waves pounding the dunes like artillery.**

**With the next thunderclap, my mom woke. She sat up, eyes wide, and said, "Hurricane."**

**I knew that was crazy. Long Island never sees hurricanes this early in the summer. But the ocean seemed to have forgotten.**

"How could you forget?" Hermes asked Poseidon cheekily.

**Over the roar of the wind, I heard a distant bellow, an angry, tortured sound that made my hair stand on end.**

Percy paled.

**Then a much closer noise, like mallets in the sand. A desperate voice-someone yelling, pounding on our cabin door.**

**My mother sprang out of bed in her nightgown and threw open the lock.**

**Grover stood framed in the doorway against a backdrop of pouring rain. But he wasn't . . . he wasn't exactly Grover.**

"Why? What was wrong with him?" Thalia asked in concern.

**"Searching all night," he gasped. "What were you thinking?"**

"He obviously wasn't." Nico pointed out.

"Well, if people didn't insist on keeping things from me…" Percy retorted.

**My mother looked at me in terror-not scared of Grover, but of why he'd come.**

**"Percy," she said, shouting to be heard over the rain. "What happened at school? What didn't you tell me?"**

**I was frozen, looking at Grover. I couldn't understand what I was seeing.**

_**"O Zeu kai alloi theoi!"**_**he yelled. "It's right behind me! Didn't you tell her?"**

**I was too shocked to register that he'd just cursed in Ancient Greek, and I'd understood him perfectly. I was too shocked to wonder how Grover had gotten here by himself in the middle of the night. Because Grover didn't have his pants on**

"That sounds so wrong!" Nico, Hermes, and Apollo laughed.

Grover blushed.

**-and where his legs should be . . . where his legs should be . . .**

Everyone leaned forward, despite already knowing what it was.

**My mom looked at me sternly and talked in a tone she'd never used before: **_**"Percy.**_** Tell me **_**now!"**_

"You should have told her before." Athena said sternly.

Percy just growled at her.

**I stammered something about the old ladies at the fruit stand, and Mrs. Dodds, and my mom stared at me, her face deathly pale in the flashes of lightning.**

**She grabbed her purse, tossed me my rain jacket, and said, "Get to the car. Both of you. **_**Go!"**_

**Grover ran for the Camaro-but he wasn't running, exactly. He was trotting, shaking his shaggy hindquarters, and suddenly his story about a muscular disorder in his legs made sense to me. I understood how he could run so fast and still limp when he walked.**

**Because where his feet should be, there were no feet.**

**There were cloven hooves.**

"That was the first time you had seen a satyr wasn't it?" Triton asked in amusement.

"Yes, I had never even known they existed." Percy said with a small pout at Triton.

"_Master Atra really looks adorable when he does that."_ Niveus thought. _"What am I thinking? I couldn't possibly have a crush on Master Atra. Oh Hades! I do!" _Niveus thought.


	5. Chapter 5

**Hey guys! So I got a review from a guest on this story saying that they reported me for stealing Rick Riordan's work. I am now in the process of moving my stories to Archive of Our Own. I'm sorry if this is an inconvenience to you but I've found a lot of things on there that I like a lot better than this site. I just don't want to go through the same thing that IkutoisSmexy did.**

**Please PM me if you have any questions. You can find me under the same name on Archive of Our Own and I've already posted a slightly revised edition of the first chapter of this story and the first chapter of Broken Dreams there. This account will still be open for beta reading (so if you know of anyone that could use one...) and for reading others' stories. I wish you all the best and this is me posting for probably one of the last times on this website.**

**If you make the switch to Archive of Our Own, I swear you won't regret it! (They definitely don't just delete your stories then send you a warning after it's already done! And they have a lot less rules as to what you can and cannot post!)**

**Just take the spaces out but the link to Archive of Our Own is: www. archiveofourown .org **

**Bye guys!**


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